Kara's Stories
by theinsomniakid
Summary: Collection of prompts, drabbles and exercises centered around Kara Shepard, paragade Sentinel. Spacer/Sole Survivor background. Shakarian. Prompts from 30 Day Mass Effect Challenge. Spoilers for Mass Effect 1 through 3 plus Extended Cut DLC throughout.
1. Awakening

Mass Effect 30 Day Challenge

Mostly drabbles and fun, series of writing exercises

**Kara Shepard | Sentinel | Paragade | Spacer/Sole Survivor**

**Prompt One:** Which Mass Effect is your favorite?

**Awakening**

"_Wake up Commander."_

Kara Shepard heard the voice, tinny and unfamiliar through an overhead comm. system. That didn't make any sense though. The last thing she remembered was a burning sensation in her lungs, the hiss of air escaping from her suit's oxygen tank, the burning wreckage of the Normandy surrounding her as she spun through the vacuum of space towards the planet below. Silence except for her desperate gasps, trying to take in oxygen. Then blackness.

Now this.

The entire room lurched to the right as an explosion boomed nearby.

She opened her eyes, wincing at the florescent lights above her, and groaned. Every inch of her body ached like she'd just gone ten rounds with a Krogan. She looked around, taking stock of her location. A medical bay, but not a familiar one. Kara sat up slowly, wincing at a pain in her jaw, and suddenly the entire room lurched again and she almost fell off the bed.

"_Shepard, do you hear me? Get out of that bed now, this facility is under attack."_

_Wha-_

Kara squinted through the giant windows on the opposite wall. Bright orange explosions and sounds of the impact of gunfire ricocheting off shields erupted against the backdrop of space.

_The hell?_

Kara sat up, but almost immediately slumped back down as a sharp pain stabbed into her side. Clutching at it, she groaned and swung her legs over the side of the bed, trying to keep steady despite the room's violent shakes.

The voice again. "Your scars aren't healed but I need you to get moving! This facility is under attack."

_Who is that?_

A female voice, but no one familiar. Not Ashley or Liara, certainly not Tali. Not a surprise – they'd all made it to the escape pods, despite the repeated insistence of the gunnery chief that she was going to stay come hell or high water. This voice was brand new, and the med bay wasn't any she'd ever seen.

_Where am I?_

"_There's a pistol in the locker on the other side of the room,"_ the voice called through the external comms. _"Hurry!"_

Kara stood up, still clutching her side as she half-stumbled across the room towards the locker against the far wall. Maybe the voice did sound somewhat familiar. A voice from a dream she remembered having, a woman with dark hair and blue eyes standing over her as she struggled to breathe while a man with a datapad furiously made adjustments, the blaring shriek of a heart rate monitor superimposed over everything.

_A nightmare? _

_Or something else?_

"_You don't have time to wait around Shepard! Grab your pistol and armor from the locker."_

_All right, all right._ Kara shook her head rapidly and walked more steadily towards the far side of the room. The locker did indeed contain a pistol and an armor set – not her old N7 armor, though it bore the same insignia along the right chest-plate. She pulled it on in record time, her mind wandering back to her early training, the middle-of-the-night drills the instructors would call. She smiled to herself but stopped as her jaw twinged again and she snapped back to the present. Facility under attack. Pistol. Right.

Armor now donned, Kara picked up the pistol – a basic M-3 Predator model – and examined it. She scowled. "This doesn't have a thermal clip." Her voice was hoarse, and she coughed a couple of times after speaking.

"_It's a med bay,"_ the female voice over the comm. admonished her. _"We'll get you a clip from – Damn it!"_

Kara heard a loud 'thud' from across the room and saw a heavy set of doors. _"Take cover!"_

Kara ran, ignoring the pain in her muscles as she moved, and crouched down behind a pile of medical supply crates just as the room was rocked by an explosion that sent pieces of the door flying. _What the hell?_

Peering around the corner of the crates, Kara saw that the door had been blasted open. No one emerged from the smoke, however, so she cautiously moved forward through the crater that had been left by the explosion. Her eyes caught something glinting on the floor in front of a second set of blast doors. A clip. _Perfect._

She grabbed it and loaded the pistol as the woman's voice echoed overhead again. _"Someone's hacking security trying to kill you!"_

_Someone trying to kill me?_ Kara gave a half-smile again, this time ignoring the pain it caused. _Must be Tuesday_.

The doors slid open and Kara ran through them into a hallway. The woman yelled something about taking cover but Kara didn't need the help; a tall skinny mech with a glowing red face approached from up the stairs – Loki mechs, that was what they were called – its tinny voice blaring the words 'hostiles detected' at her.

Vaulting over another stack of crates, Kara crouched behind a guardrail as two shots flew past her head. Popping up from cover, she lined up the shot and the pistol barked three times, hitting the mech square in the chest. It stumbled backwards and raised its arm to shoot again, but Kara, reacting purely by reflex, thrust her left hand forward and released a wave of biotic energy, throwing the machine back until it bounced off the wall and landed with a distressed 'bleep' on the floor.

Kara ran up the stairs and found two more thermal clips for her pistol. The overhead lights of the hallway flickered and she heard more shots being fired up ahead. She winced and rubbed her jaw again, this time noticing a pattern of unfamiliar scars across her cheek. She tried to focus on the issue at hand – mechs with guns, someone trying to kill her – but as she raced through the hallways of this strange besieged facility, the questions refused to leave her mind.

_What's going on?_

_And where the hell am I?_

Answer: Mass Effect 2


	2. Ryncol

**Mass Effect 30 Day Challenge: Day Two**

**Prompt Two:** Favourite Male Companion(s)

**SPOILERS: Mass Effect 1 and 2 **

**Ryncol**

"Is this normal shore leave behavior for the Commander?" Zaeed leaned back on his barstool and set another empty bottle of Batarian ale down on the counter. The Turian bartender slid another across to him and the old mercenary thanked him with a nod and a grunt.

"These days it is," Garrus said, taking a sip of his dextro-beer and looking across the crowded bar at where Commander Kara Shepard was dancing with a pair of enthusiastic Asari. She was already four glasses of liquor, three shots and two beers into the evening and her dancing had become especially bad. "That Collector Ship wasn't exactly a cakewalk. And we all have our own ways of blowing off steam."

"I've never seen a human down that many shots and stay standing." Zaeed commented, downing half his beer in one gulp.

"That's Shepard for you," Garrus said, allowing himself a smile as he watched the Commander wobble dangerously to one side as she moved around the dance floor. "She's not your typical human."

"Already figured that one out, Vakarian," Zaeed commented, pausing with his beer halfway to his lips to glare at a Batarian across the bar, who cast all four of his eyes down so they were anywhere but in the mercenary's line of sight. "Didn't think it'd be a normal human crazy enough to take on the Collectors."

"Crazy is our specialty," Garrus said. Shepard was now at the bar again with the Asari and a pair of Krogan, enthusiastically encouraging them to do more shots. "You don't take on the Reapers and expect to stay sane."

"Fair enough," Zaeed shrugged. "Lucky for me I left sanity behind decades ago."

"I'll drink to that, Massani," Garrus said with a grin, and the two of them clinked bottles before drinking and sitting in silence, watching the Commander again. She was back on the dance floor, moving awkwardly in her armor between the other bodies, a drunken smile on her face.

"Reminds me of the old days," Garrus said, finishing his beer and ordering another. "The Dark Star wasn't our usual watering hole back then of course. Spent too much time in other parts of the wards helping the needy citizens of the citadel."

"Hah," Zaeed snorted. "Most of the citizens around these parts are needy for a good punch in the gut."

"Two years ago it was about the same," Garrus agreed. "We had some good times at Chora's Den though, when we weren't shooting up the place."

Zaeed grinned. "Been there a few times," he said. "I liked it. Your bartender was as likely to shoot you as he was to give you a beer. Kept you on your toes."

Garrus laughed. "I hated it, but that was back in my C-Sec days." He sipped his beer and watched Shepard as she leaned against a wall talking with one of the Citadel groundskeepers. He could swear she was asking him about fish. "A lot's changed since then."

Zaeed nodded solemnly and the pair of them ordered another round. A few minutes of comfortable silence passed before Garrus spoke again. "There was one night the three of us were at the Den – that's me and the Commander and Wrex of course." He clarified.

"The Krogan merc, right?" Zaeed asked. "Think I worked with him a couple times back in the day."

Garrus nodded. "Tough customer, but after three months under Shepard's command he was ready to follow her to hell and back." His eyes softened as he watched Shepard return to the dance floor. "We all were."

Zaeed raised an eyebrow and studied the Turian through his milky right eye, but didn't press the issue, allowing Vakarian to finish his story.

"Anyway," Garrus said. "There's one night I'll never forget, it was while we were on shore leave after we'd sorted everything out with those damn colonists on Feros. The three of us went down to Chora's Den to talk some waitress into going back to work at Flux and to stop informing for C-Sec before she got herself killed."

"Smart advice," Zaeed noted. He was looking in the direction of the dance floor. "I think she's down Vakarian."

Garrus leaned to the left on his stool to get a better view. He laughed. "Nope, she's still going." He said as the Commander leapt up to her feet with a drunken wave of her hand and the repeated yelling of the words 'I'm okay, I'm okay' to her companions. "Anyway, after we talked to this girl, Rita, she gave us a few rounds of drinks, and that was when Wrex suggested we try something a little harder than our usual preferred beverages."

Zaeed laughed. "God," he said. "When a Krogan makes a suggestion like that, you know there's going to be a story worth telling."

Garrus nodded. "No joke."

He was interrupted as Shepard came dashing over to them, a drunken smile on her face, and grabbed them both by the shoulders. "Are you having fun?" she yelled over the pounding bass. She smelled like a distillery.

"We're just dandy Commander," Zaeed said, patting her on the hand. "Just dandy."

"You guys are great!" she yelled, her words slurring into each other. "Really, thanks for coming with me. This is awesome."

Garrus and Zaeed chuckled somewhat awkwardly – Kara Shepard was a lot of things, but openly cheerful was not typically one of them. They both wondered just how much she'd had to drink when they hadn't been watching, and just how much their previous mission had affected her.

"I love you guys," she drawled, slumping forward and wrapping her arms around their shoulders. "You're just the best."

As the old mercenary and the Turian attempted to steady her, Kara Shepard leaned to her right and planted a kiss on Garrus's left mandible. "Just the best." She said with a smile.

Garrus felt his face color slightly and looked everywhere but at Zaeed, who was trying not to laugh.

"More shots!" Shepard yelled, running towards the small crowd of Asari friends she had made, who greeted her with cheers. "Let's put this Cerberus money to good use!"

Garrus continued to stare into his beer, saying nothing.

Zaeed smirked. "Did she just-"

"Shut up Massani."

"But she just-"

"I borrowed Tali's shotgun. Don't make me use it."

"Suit yourself Vakarian," Zaeed shrugged, biting back a laugh. "Anyway, you were telling me a story."

"Yes," Garrus ignored the hotness of his face and took another long sip of his beer before continuing. "So Wrex flags the bartender over, human fellow, barely old enough to shave, and the damn Krogan decides to order us a round of-"

"RYNCOL!"

Garrus stopped talking and the two of them looked across the bar to where Shepard was standing with the two Krogan, the Turian bartender pouring out three glasses of neon green liquor.

"Spirits," Garrus muttered, getting off his stool and ignoring the slight drunken haze he was in. "Better finish that beer off Massani, the evening's about to come to an end."

"Ryncol?" Zaeed shook his head as he stood up and the two of them began to walk towards their Commander. "Is she insane?"

"Like we're in any position to judge." Garrus said, moving around until he was behind the muscular short-haired blonde woman in the N7 uniform, readying himself for the inevitable.

"Lift me up, lift me up!" Shepard slurred to the two Krogan, who helped her stand on a barstool as she brandished her glass of Ryncol. "To Urdnot Wrex!" she yelled. "A King among Krogan!" The rest of the bar cheered as she downed the burning liquid in one go, splashing some of it in her eye. She tossed the glass behind her, and the bartender caught it deftly, turning shortly thereafter to find his mop and bucket.

"This isn't going to end well," Zaeed said, watching as the Commander stood swaying atop the barstool as the two Krogan next to her did their own shots of Ryncol and enthusiastically pounded their chests with their fists.

"On the plus side," Garrus said, as he moved slightly forward so he stood just beneath Shepard. "I don't have to finish my story. You get to see it."

Zaeed laughed, and the two of them watched as the Commander raised both her arms in drunken revelry.

"I'm Commander Shepard!" she yelled. "And this is my favourite bar on the-"

Garrus caught her as she fell from the stool, instantly unconscious. She slumped over him and Garrus swung her around so that he held her by the armpits. "Little help?" he asked, and Zaeed obliged, taking her legs.

"I take it this is how the story ended?" the old mercenary asked as they carried the Commander towards the restrooms.

Garrus laughed, slightly out of breath. Shepard was heavy in all her armor. "Somewhere on Tuchanka," he said. "There's an old Krogan mercenary chuckling to himself and he doesn't quite know why."

**Answer:** Garrus Vakarian,Urdnot Wrex, Zaeed Massani


	3. Surprise

**Mass Effect 30 Day Challenge: Day 3**

**Prompt 3:** Favourite Female Companion(s)

SPOILERS: Mass Effect 3

**Surprise**

_Normandy SR-2, 2186 CE, Post-__**Priority: Rannoch**__ Mission_

The _Normandy_'s decks were oddly silent after leaving Rannoch. Even though they hadn't been on board long, the absence of the Quarian Admirals – and Legion – had left the entire crew feeling subdued and uneasy, even somewhat awed. Peace between the Quarians and the Geth? The only reason Tali'Zorah vas Normandy believed it at all was because she had been there to help negotiate it.

They were still at least ten hours out from Citadel Space, and the young Quarian Admiral was reminded by a rumble in her stomach that she hadn't eaten since before they'd even landed on Rannoch, much less reclaimed it. She left Daniels and Donnelly affectionately bickering with each other at their stations – they never seemed to sleep – and rode the elevator up to the crew deck. Hopefully one of the Admirals had left a bit of dextro food behind; she was not keen on the idea of going back to eating nutrient paste.

The elevator doors slid open and Tali was surprised to hear voices coming from the Mess Hall. At this odd hour almost everyone should be asleep; third shift was in the dead of night by most of the crew's body clocks. As she rounded the corner Tali couldn't help but smile as she located the source of the conversation.

"Morning Tali," Commander Shepard, her eyes ringed with dark circles and her short blonde hair in desperate need of a wash and a comb, sat at a table with Liara and EDI. She and the Asari both had the crusts of sandwiches on plates in front of them, while EDI simply sat with her head tilted to the side, obviously having been listening intently to her companions' conversation. "Join us for breakfast?"

Tali smiled, then laughed to herself as she remembered that they couldn't see her face through the thick purple glass of her face-mask. After even just a few minutes of taking it off on Rannoch (which had resulted in a much smaller cold than she'd anticipated), she'd never wanted to put the damn thing back on. "In the middle of the night?" she asked.

"As good a time as any," Shepard said, standing up and walking over to the small kitchen unit on the other side of the room. "You want some stew? It's dextro-safe."

"Sure!" Tali said, surprised as she watched the Commander pour thick brown liquid out of a pot on the stove and into a metal bowl. "Where did it come from?"

"I made it," Shepard smiled sheepishly. "For Garrus. Nothing fancy, but it didn't kill him, so as far as my culinary exploits go, it's considerable progress."

"Indeed," EDI noted, her synthetic lips upturned in a small smile. "Considering your first three attempts resulted in Officer Vakarian suffering from anaphylactic shock."

Liara and Tali laughed as Shepard made a face of mock injury, setting the bowl down in front of Tali, who began the intensive process of filtration to allow the food into her system. "We all know I'd make a terrible housewife EDI," Shepard said. "No need to rub it in."

"As always, I was simply stating the facts," EDI said, her voice echoing slightly in the mostly empty room. "I assumed that if you actually intended to kill Officer Vakarian, your extensive combat training would permit you far more efficient avenues than feeding him toxic food."

The other three stared at EDI for a moment before Liara let out a small chuckle. EDI did not smile. "That was-"

"-a joke." The rest of them finished for her in unison. They all laughed then, and Tali tried the stew. Not a feat of culinary brilliance, but decidedly better than nutrient paste.

"Shepard and EDI were telling me some stories of what I missed out on when I was stuck on Ilium," Liara said, picking at her sandwich. "It sounds like you all had quite the adventure fighting the Collectors."

"If you can call a suicide mission an adventure, sure." Shepard said, taking a sip out of her can of beer. Tali wondered why the Commander was drinking so late – well, early – in the day, but said nothing. "Though we did have some good times between all the fighting Collector drones and rescuing Quarians from awful hell planets."

"That was one time," Tali said, feigning hurt feelings. "And I was worth rescuing."

"What did you do between missions, during down time?" Liara asked, sipping from a glass of water. "You traveled from one side of the galaxy to the other and back, that's a lot of time spent on the Normandy."

"I recall one particularly amusing time that passed between missions, Shepard." EDI said, placing her hands on the table. Tali was still getting used to the AI having hands at all, let alone using them.

"Yeah?" Shepard raised an eyebrow, finishing her beer and fiddling with the pull tab. "Which time?"

EDI smiled again. "The surprise."

_Normandy SR-2, April 11__th__, 2185. 1 Month Before Assault on Collector Base_

"_Tali, where are we going?" Kara Shepard laughed as the Quarian slowly led her into the elevator, enviro-suited hands covering the Commander's eyes. "What is this?" _

"_A surprise!" Tali said, and Kara could hear the excitement in her voice as the doors of the elevator slid closed and she felt the familiar lurch of upward movement. _

"_I'm not great with surprises Tali," Kara said, feeling unsteady in the rapidly moving elevator. "I prefer to be armed for them."_

"_It'll be fine, we're almost there!" Tali said. "Don't peek!"_

"_Your hands are over my eyes," Kara said, her tone flat. "I couldn't even if I tried."_

"_Good." Tali affirmed, and she gently pushed Kara forward as the elevator doors opened. Kara heard the elevator close behind her, and then heard the hiss of a second pair of doors opening in front of her. With Tali leading her, she took a few halting steps forward, trying not to stumble over her own feet. What was going on?_

"_All right?" Tali seemed to be addressing someone else. "All right!" the Quarian dramatically pulled her hands away from Kara's face and she was suddenly blinded by bright light. "Surprise!" _

_Kara squinted to adjust to the sudden light, trying to distinguish her surroundings. The familiar sight of the glowing fish tank, skylight displaying the stars and collection of model ships swam into view, along with a collection of bright rainbow-colored streamers and balloons. It was her cabin, but it looked as if a unicorn had thrown up in it. On the table down the steps in the main part of the cabin, a large round cake with white frosting sat next to a pile of plates and forks. The words 'Happy Birthday Commander' were written on it in red frosting, a small N7 insignia frosted below it._

"_What the…" Kara trailed off and looked around, for she and Tali were not alone in her cabin. Kasumi sat in the desk chair with her legs up on the shelf where Kara's space hamster, Boo, sat blinking his dark eyes around at the unexpected guests. EDI's AI link was open and glowing bright blue to the left of the entrance. Even Jack, sitting in the darkest corner of the room next to her bed, gave Shepard a wry half-smile as Tali dragged her down to the table. _

"_Happy birthday Shep," Kasumi said, standing up and casually wandering down to join the excited Quarian and the silent biotic in the lower section of the cabin. "Figured you deserved some celebrating."_

"_Plus with all the testosterone you take with you on missions, Tali figured you could use a little 'girl' time," Jack said, making air quotes with her tattooed hands. _

_Shepard stared down at the dessert in front of her. She tried to remember the last time she'd had a birthday cake. Maybe right before she'd gone to the enlistment office when she turned eighteen. An age ago. A lifetime ago. "How…" she said, and she swallowed a lump in her throat, realizing the threat of tears. She coughed. "How did you guys know?"_

"_I found it in Miranda's files," Kasumi said, grinning and sitting down on the comfortable leather couch, taking one of the forks and proceeding to balance it on one finger. "Hacking into those things really is child's play, she should really look into upgrading her systems."_

"_Time to blow off some steam, eat something that isn't shitty rations," Jack said, sitting on the edge of the couch and examining the cake. Clearly she hadn't seen one in a long time either. "Tali had Gardner make it special. I think it's chocolate." _

"_I hope so!" Kasumi smiled. "Normally I prefer my chocolate with liquor, but in this case I'll make an exception."_

_Kara continued to stare, willing herself not to cry at this spontaneous act of generosity. She laughed. "You, uh, excluded some people?" she asked, noting the absence of certain female squad members. _

"_Cerberus cheerleader can suck my dick," Jack said, resting her boots on the edge of the table. "She was NOT invited."_

"_Miranda had reports to file," Tali said. "And Jack refused to show up if she joined in."_

"_Samara did not wish to be disturbed," EDI's voice chimed in over the comm. "though she declined Tali'Zorah's invitation politely."_

"_We wouldn't have fun with them around anyway," Jack snorted, picking up one of the plates. "Too many rules and sticks up their asses."_

"_Jack," Tali gave the tattooed biotic a look, which seemed to work even through her face-mask. "Be nice." Jack calmed down, sitting and waiting patiently for the Quarian to cut slices of the cake. _

_Kara was still amazed that the two of them had managed to become friends; Jack's natural hostility and Tali's tendency towards mildness made them the opposite of a good pairing, but the two looked out for each other, and it warmed Kara's heart to see. _

"_Fine," Jack muttered. "But let's get to the cake, I'm starving."_

"_I believe it is customary to sing a song before the cake is eaten in human culture," EDI said. _

_Kasumi shrugged. "I only know it in Japanese Shep, sorry." _

_Jack snorted. "Don't look at me," she said. "The closest I got to a happy birthday song back in my cell was one less kid trying to beat my head in."_

_Tali shrugged also. "We have a birthday song on the Flotilla," she said. "But it's long and a little boring."_

_Kara smiled. "We could just sing something we all know."_

_The other three thought about this for a moment. They looked at each other._

"_Do we even have a song we all know?" Kasumi asked. _

_Jack snorted again. "I doubt you're much for the music I listen to, Goto," she said. "It's mostly screaming and pounding bass." _

"_How about that one song?" Tali asked. "The one Joker likes to play over the comm. to wake everyone up in the middle of the night? The old Earth one?" _

_They all looked at each other, and Kara caught even Jack smiling. As one, they raised their voices in a slightly hoarse, untrained chorus. _

"_What would you think if I sang out of tune? Would you stand up and walk out on me?..."_

_They quickly devoured the cake shortly thereafter and stayed up for a few hours talking about anything that struck their fancy – stories of old heists, life on the flotilla, spending time in a monastery – and Kara Shepard ate her slice of chocolate cake with vanilla frosting and smiled. For the first time since she'd been brought back to life, at least in that moment, she felt that things were all right. _

_Present day_

"Sounds like fun," Liara said, smiling across the table at the Commander, who had a sad smile on her own face.

"It was," Shepard said. "Surprisingly good cake too. It's amazing what Gardner could do with a little help from supplies off the citadel."

Tali had some more of her stew and then played idly with the spoon. A silence had fallen over them, and even EDI looked somber in the florescent light of the Mess Hall.

"I miss them," Tali said after a while. "Kasumi and Jack I mean. They both brought life to the Normandy."

Shepard nodded, pulling the tab off of her beer can and pressing it between her index finger and thumb. "They really did." She said. "But they're doing good work. We all are."

The other three nodded slowly, still remaining mostly silent. Tali found that she wasn't hungry any more.

Shepard stood up, taking Tali's bowl and Liara's plate. "Guess there's not much cause for celebration any more is there?" she said, walking over and putting the dishes in the sink. "Even the good times seem to come hand-in-hand with disaster."

Tali didn't speak, she only looked over at Liara, who stared at the Commander with a deep sadness in her eyes. Tali knew she and the Asari were both thinking the same thing; it wasn't going to get easier, no matter how much they wanted it to.

Shepard stretched her arms up and groaned, her shoulders and back popping. "I'd better get back to duty rosters," she said, heading for the elevator. "Thanks for the company guys. I appreciate it."

EDI left shortly thereafter, needing to tend to Joker's morale, as she said, and Liara sat with Tali in silence for several more minutes before speaking.

"You were there for her when I couldn't be," Liara still looked sad. "Went with her into hell and back while I played financial power games on Ilium."

Tali reached across and gave the Asari's hand a squeeze. "You're here now Liara," she said. "That's what really matters. Whatever happened before, Shepard's going to need us now more than ever. You're her friend; that's exactly what she needs."

Liara nodded slowly and squeeze back. "You're right," she said, smiling wanly. "Thanks Tali." She stood up. "I should get back to my feeds," she said, heading for her cabin. "The agents of the Shadow Broker wait for no-one."

Tali sat alone in the Mess hall until third shift ended, silent and pensive, as she remembered the surprise, and the cake, and Commander Kara Shepard's smile. _Hopefully, when this is all over_, Tali thought, _We'll see her smile like that again._

**Answer:** Tali'Zorah vas Normandy, Liara T'Soni, EDI, Kasumi Goto, Jack

_- Song Lyrics: The Beatles, 'With a Little Help From My Friends' - _


	4. Angels

**Mass Effect 30 Day Challenge 4 **

**Prompt 4:** Favourite Storyline Mission

SPOILERS: Mass Effect 2

**Angels**

"You're working too hard," Shepard jammed the welder into Sergeant Cathka's back, causing the Batarian mercenary to cry out and suddenly jerk as electricity wracked through his body. He fell against the workbench alongside the gunship, then tumbled to the floor, the welder still stuck between the plates of his armor.

"Nice one," Zaeed commented, stepping over the limp body.

Miranda raised one perfect eyebrow, standing off to one side with her arms crossed. "Was that really necessary, Commander?"

"He'll live," Kara Shepard said, shrugging. "Maybe. Little shock to the system does a person good. Besides," she smiled, drawing her Shuriken pistol and checking to make sure it was fully loaded. "Now they can't repair the gunship."

"Either way, let's move before any of his friends come sniffing around," Zaeed said, drawing his assault rifle.

Shepard nodded. "Move out. Follow the freelancers across the bridge."

The trio moved past the gunship and the final barricade, where the bridge stood beyond a small drop-off. Shepard peered around the corner and watched as a group of half a dozen mercenaries jumped down and stormed the bridge, firing weapons wildly at the apartment on the far side. A sniper – Archangel, presumably – popped his head up and picked off three of the mercs with perfectly-aimed shots, but the rest of the group pressed on, heading for a set of stairs on the far side. Two carried a bomb between them.

"Looks like Archangel's running out of time," growled Zaeed at Shepard's right.

"Then let's get a move on," Miranda snapped, drawing her own submachine gun and preparing a biotic warp in her free hand.

Shepard directed them forward with a nod and the three of them dropped down off the ledge and onto the bridge. "Come on," she said, unable to resist the urge to smile and give her knuckles a solid 'crack'. "Let's give these guys a surprise of their own."

The three of them set off across the bridge, ignored by the freelancers ahead of them. Up above, Shepard watched as Archangel popped up from behind a crate once again and fired two shots in their direction. Miranda dodged to the right and Shepard to the left, but one of the rounds clipped her on the shoulder. A concussive round. Knocked out her shields, but other than that, no serious damage. She pressed forward, her team flanking her, and they made it to the other side of the bridge, catching up with the freelancers.

"That looks bad," Miranda said, and Shepard knew instantly what she was talking about. Two of the freelancers were crouched in the main room of the apartment, arming a large and unpleasant-looking bomb.

"Or useful," Shepard said. "Take cover!"

Zaeed and Miranda dodged behind two pillars as Shepard ran forward, still unnoticed by the freelancers, and she tapped into the energy of her tech shields, throwing an overload directly at the bomb. The contraption exploded, taking out the two mercs trying to arm it. Two other mercs whirled around and Shepard heard one of them yell "She's with Archangel!"

"Here we go!" Shepard yelled. "Let's move, people!"

Miranda and Zaeed pushed forward, Miranda slamming one of the mercs with a warp while Zaeed riddled one with shots from his rifle. Once the smoke from the bomb had cleared, Shepard saw a few more of the men scrambling up the stairs that led to Archangel's vantage point.

"Upstairs," Shepard yelled, flinging another warp at a merc and sending him tumbling into a bookshelf.

"We've got to clear 'em out," Zaeed said as he popped his heat sink and loaded his rifle with another clip. "Archangel's useless if he's dead."

"The obvious, Zaeed," Shepard growled, shooting the last merc on the stairs with her pistol before sprinting up two at a time towards the upper level. "You're stating it."

"Come on!" Miranda yelled. One of the freelancers peered up over the edge of the balcony rail above them and she slammed him with another biotic pulse. "Perfect!"

Shepard reached the top of the stairs and immediately dived into cover. Two of the freelancers were trying to hack the locked door on far end of the balcony while others were in front in a defensive stance, holding their rifles in front of them with as much expertise as they could muster. They rattled off shots at Shepard and her team, and even though she got off a few potshots and another biotic attack, they were pinned down.

"Fuck this," she muttered, putting her pistol away and reaching for the weapon on her back. "Zaeed, Miranda, cover me!"

Her companions popped out of cover and fired at the men in front of the door as Shepard checked to make sure her weapon was loaded. Satisfied, she flung herself around the corner on one knee and pointed it at the cluster of freelancers.

"How about THIS?" She yelled.

And she fired the grenade launcher.

Miranda and Zaeed dived for cover as pieces of mercenary armor, flesh, and chunks of the door blasted forward. Shepard spun around so her back caught the worst of the blast, then she stood up, putting away the launcher and nodding with satisfaction at the carnage on display when the dust settled.

"You sure like to make an entrance," Zaeed muttered behind her, reloading his rifle.

"Come on," Shepard said, drawing her pistol again. "Through here."

What was left of the door to the main apartment slid open, sparking from damage, and Shepard and her team entered cautiously with weapons drawn. The spacious room had two balcony areas, one looking out on the bridge and a second parallel to it that looked down into the courtyard through which they had entered the complex. Shepard signaled her team to stand back as she stepped towards the tall mercenary with the scope of a sniper rifle to his helmet.

"Archangel?" she said, knowing this was an obvious thing to say, but it was as good a greeting as any.

Archangel raised one of his hands – distinctly three-fingered, an indicator along with the shape of his helmet that a Turian existed somewhere under all that armor – and fired one last shot down below them into the courtyard. Shepard heard the croak and thud of another mercenary dropping dead, then looked back to the vigilante, who had set his sniper rifle down and was removing his helmet.

Beneath it, Kara Shepard saw the last face she had expected to see.

Piercing blue eyes to match the electric glow of his visor, thick blue warpaint-like marks across his face, the hint of a smirk around his mandible. Shepard stared at him a moment, taking him in. Even if she'd been dead for most of it, two years was a long time, and in an instant an onslaught of emotions assaulted her, feelings she had stomped down after the Illusive Man had reported his location as unknown.

Officer. Warrior. Partner-in-crime. Friend.

_Garrus. _

The Turian set his helmet down next to him and leaned forward, slightly out of breath, but his eyes sparkled. Shepard didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

"Shepard," Garrus Vakarian said after a long pause, his gravelly voice full of disbelief, of wonder, just as shocked to see her as she was to see him. "I thought you were dead."

**Answer:** Dossier: Archangel, Mass Effect 2


	5. Simplicity

**Mass Effect 30 Day Challenge 5**

**Prompt 5:** Favourite Loyalty Mission

SPOILERS: Mass Effect 2

**Simplicity **

_2185 CE, Tuchanka_

The last of the Varren flew across the desolate Tuchankan landscape designated for the Rite, and Grunt hoisted his shotgun in the air and laughed in triumph. "Ha! Right on your ass!"

"Do Varren really _have_ asses?" Garrus asked idly from behind one of the crumbling structures near the keystone. "I mean, they have hindquarters, but I don't know if that really counts."

Shepard checked her submachine gun for clips and spotted a few sitting next to the body of a dead Krogan. "I can't say I particularly care about their anatomy Garrus," she said, reloading as she spoke. "Just that they stay dead when I put 'em down."

"I like it!" Grunt was practically vibrating with energy and bloodlust. "Ready for another round Shepard. Tag the keystone."

Shepard rebooted her tech armor and cracked her neck before slamming her fist against the bright green button. The voice boomed out of a comm. system for a second time, echoing around the makeshift arena.

_Then the krogan were lifted to the stars to destroy the fears of a galaxy, an enemy only we could to chase to their lair._

"Educational," Garrus said, his voice dry. "At least we get a history lesson to go with this shooting gallery."

The ground shook briefly as Shepard pointed each of her squadmates to watch for hostiles at the crumbling steps to their right and left. She had no idea what was coming next. Varren wasn't a surprise, not here, but she'd only skimmed the briefing on indigenous life-forms of Tuchanka.

"Harvester!" Garrus yelled at her six, and she swung around, pistol drawn, to see the giant flying reptilian lizard land between two of the old pillars and deposit a small cluster of crablike creatures. Shepard vaguely remembered these from her readings. Klixen.

"Crawlers!" Grunt yelled, charging across the battlefield and firing rounds into the nearest beast. "I am ready!"

Grunt charged ahead and left Garrus and Shepard to cover him. The two of them stood back-to-back to pick off any Klixen that Harvesters dropped out of Grunt's charging range. Between her biotics and his assault rifle, she and Garrus were picking them off with relative ease. Slower compared to the Varren, even if more shots were needed to put them down.

"At least Grunt's having a good time!" Shepard yelled over the hail of gunfire.

"I still would have preferred the dances on Omega," Garrus yelled back. "Less blood and guts, more alcohol."

"Fair enough," Shepard said. Another Klixen fell at her feet, shrieking a hideous death knell. "But at least this shit's cut and dried."

Garrus put away his assault rifle and pulled out his preferred weapon, the sniper rifle, beginning to pick the crablike creatures off from a distance. "What do you mean?" He asked between shots. Klixen dropped around them like flies.

"I mean," Shepard said, shooting the nearest Klixen and then stomping on it to make sure it was well and truly dead. "That we've been across the damn galaxy and back getting everyone's 'unfinished business' squared away. We took care of that mess with Miranda's sister, Jacob's fucked up daddy issues, and worst of all, having to wear that stupid dress and go to some high-fallutin' party to steal a fucking brainbox with Kasumi!" Shepard threw a warp at the last Klixen scuttling towards her and finished it off with a burst of submachine gun fire. "And don't even get me started on talking you down off your 'shoot Sidonis in the head vengeance-fest' ledge. At least helping Grunt out is simple." She swung around and shot two more Klixen heading towards them. "All we have to do is point and shoot."

Garrus grunted in begrudging agreement, picking off the last Klixen as the Harvester flew away. "You did look good in that dress," he said after a moment, giving her his characteristic smirk.

"Not the point," Shepard shook her head at the Turian, who winked and put away his sniper rifle. "Point is, I'd take shooting shit dead over talking my way into a vault or dealing with a big moral crisis any day of the week."

"It's definitely easier," Garrus agreed. "Fewer tears, certainly."

Grunt huffed over, his armor glistening with Klixen blood. "The Keystone," he said, panting slightly. "We must have to trigger it again for the next part of the rite."

"Oh goody," Garrus said, voice dripping sarcasm. "Can't wait to see what we'll be shooting next. Did I mention the part about the dancers? And the liquor?"

"How about we do that after?" Shepard asked, giving him a smile as she punched the bright green button again. Once more the voice boomed around the arena.

_Now all krogan bear the genophage, our reward, our curse, it is a fight where the only goal is survival. _

"That doesn't sound good," Garrus muttered, reloading his assault rifle.

"Bet you ten credits it's a horde of Pyjaks," Shepard said, ducking down behind a ruined column and spotting a crate not far from her. As she ran over to inspect it, the ground shook as the hammer of the device that symbolized the initiating of the third portion of the rite collided with the earth. She stumbled and continued to run, but noticed that unlike the last two times, the vibrations kept going. "Um…"

"Feel that?" Grunt yelled, hoisting his shotgun into the air. "Everything is… shaking." He stood on top of a pile of bloody Krogan corpses and yelled. "I AM READY!"

"Glad to hear someone is," Garrus muttered, joining Shepard next to the crate. "What'd you find?"

Shepard opened it and inspected the contents. "Sweet," she muttered with a smile, and moved aside to show the Turian. "Heavy weapon ammo."

Something shot out of the ground on the other side of the collapsed column. Garrus and Shepard popped their heads up from their cover to see a long blue tentacle winding its way up into the air, waving in the whipping gusts of wind. Shepard looked around the arena and saw more of the things waving and coiling around in the air. "What the hell?"

Shepard and Garrus gave each other bewildered looks. There hadn't been anything about blue tentacles in the brief. She would have noticed blue tentacles.

The tentacles suddenly slipped back down into the ground, the battlefield suddenly silent and empty of foes. Garrus pointed his rifle at the hole where the nearest tentacle had come out, trying to contain any anxiousness. "I have a bad feeling," he said. "A very bad feeling."

Behind them, to the right of the keystone trigger mechanism, the ground erupted, almost knocking the trio over with its force. Shepard looked to see what had emerged from the ground and felt the bottom drop out of her stomach.

"Oh, you have GOT to be kidding me," Garrus said, his jaw dropping. "We have to kill THAT?"

"I owe you ten credits," Shepard said. "That's _definitely_ not Pyjaks."

"Finally!" Grunt yelled, taking cover behind a pile of bodies and firing shots and the giant thresher maw that screeched at them from across the battlefield. "An enemy worth fighting!"

Shepard reached behind her and grabbed her fully loaded particle beam. She glared at the maw, its gaping jaws preparing to spit venom. "If I get any traumatic Akuze flashbacks today it's your ass, Grunt!" she yelled. "Your goddamned ass!"

She and Garrus ducked down behind the column again to avoid the sticky green ooze the maw spat at them. They heard Grunt roar and begin a charge.

"So much for easy," Garrus grunted, popping up out of cover to take a few shots.

"It's still better than the fucking dress," Shepard replied, and the particle beam shot violent green energy right between the maw's eyes.

**Answer:** Grunt: Rite of Passage

_Thanks for the reviews and thanks for reading everyone. I'm really glad folk are enjoying these stories, and am amused that drunk!femshep has a fanbase. Don't worry, I'm sure she'll be back. _


	6. Misguided

**Mass Effect 30 Day Challenge Day 6**

**Prompt 6**: Favourite Side Quest

SPOILERS: Mass Effect 2

**Misguided**

_2185 CE, Ilium _

The bar's ambiance was similar to the Dark Star on the Citadel: bass-heavy music pounded over the sound system, a mix of Humans and Asari dancing or talking over drinks at tables along with the occasional Turian or Quarian.

"I think we should find out what's got the owner so upset before we meet with your contact Miranda," Shepard said. "Better a mess cleaned up now than a mess cleaned up later."

"Of course Commander," Miranda said, and Shepard resisted the urge to punch her. It was just something in her tone of voice, every time. Smarmy. Superior.

She caught Garrus looking at her, blue eyes speaking volumes even though he remained silent. _Be nice_, they said. _We need her, just like we need everyone else._

Shepard scowled at him. She hated it when he was right. She moved towards the counter to the right of the entrance and could already hear the source of the commotion, a raised voice berating another staff member of Eternity. A human voice. A familiar voice.

"You're really holding out on me? I'm a man on the edge! I've got nothing to lose!"

Shepard stopped in her tracks and resisted the urge to rub her temples. _This has got to be some kind of joke_, she thought to herself. _Or a dream, any minute I'll wake up and I'll still be dead._

"Is that…?" Garrus asked, and then he laughed. "Oh, this should be good."

"Someone you know?" Miranda asked, tilting her head to the side in confusion.

Garrus couldn't suppress his chuckles. "It's Commander Shepard's biggest fan."

"I will beat you to death with the stick up your ass if you don't can it, Vakarian," Shepard growled, and Garrus smirked back at her, unfazed by her melodramatic threats.

They approached the bar. The Asari tending behind it, tall for her species, stood with her arms folded and an elbow against one of the shelves, unimpressed by the blonde human's threats. Occasionally she said 'uh-huh' to one of his outbursts, looking more and more irritated with every passing second.

"Wanna see how far I can go?" the man yelled, jabbing his finger in the Asari's direction as Shepard and her team walked over. "I learned to shove a gun in people's faces from-"

He seemed to sense her standing behind him and he turned, his cocky, arrogant smirk instantly vanishing, along with most of the blood in his face. "C-commander Sh-shepard?"

Shepard bit back a sigh. Conrad Verner.

"Hey," the Asari bartender leaned over to speak to Shepard. "Do you know this idiot? Do me a favor and reign his ass in before I slap his ass with a singularity, okay?"

"Shepard?" Conrad squinted at her. "It's really you! I thought you were dead. Do you remember me? Conrad! Conrad Verner! I met you on the citadel, I wanted to become a Spectre?"

Shepard also bit back her urge to close her eyes and count to ten.

Conrad was still talking. Something about her shoving a gun in his face, showing him how to be extreme, learning his lesson. This was the very last thing she wanted to deal with today. Being on Ilium to help – what was it Jack kept calling her? The Cerberus Cheerleader? – with her family issues, that awkward exchange with Liara, the bigoted merchant down by the taxi stand.

Some days she just really wanted to hit somebody.

"Maybe you should stand back on this one," Conrad said. He looked absolutely ridiculous in the knock-off N7 armor he wore. Shepard thought of her long-dead friends on Akuze, and how hard they would kick his ass for impersonating one of their own. "Watch how it's done. I've got asses to kick!"

Shepard shook her head, closed her eyes, and let out a breath.

_Fuck it. _

She took him by the shoulders. "Conrad…"

Then she drove her right knee into his gut.

Conrad fell to the ground with a squawk of pain and the Asari bartender jumped up and smacker her fists together. "HAH, kick him in the quad!" she yelled. Then she smiled sheepishly. "Sorry, my father was a Krogan."

Conrad dragged himself to his feet, whining about how much his stomach hurt and something about getting better armor. "I don't care if you get angry," he said, wheezing slightly. "Someone had to do something after you died. I stepped up!"

Shepard rubbed the side of her head. She needed a drink. Possibly two. "_Why_ were you trying to get the deed to Eternity?"

Conrad's eyes lit up. He looked like an excited puppy. "This place is a front for a red sand dealer. If I take it over, it'll crack the ring!"

"What." The Asari bartender gave Conrad a look that could have melted glass. "Who in the _hell_ told you that?"

Conrad stepped back, stuttering. "The Asari who owns the weapons store by the carport. I introduced myself, she said she was an undercover cop, so she knows what she's talking about!"

The bartender settled both palms on the counter and glared at the man even harder. "Listen to me, crap-for-brains, we don't sell red sand, which doesn't even matter, because red sand is legal on Ilium. You just need a license."

Shepard shook her head again and sighed. You could only kick a puppy once before you felt bad. Conrad was annoying, but just a misguided idiot at the end of the day. "Look," she said, deliberately looking everywhere but at Garrus, who she knew was smirking. "I'll go talk to this undercover cop. Maybe I can figure out what he's talking about."

"Thank you," the Asari said, nodding to her. "If I kill annoying customers it tends to come out of my pay. You know, property damage."

Conrad gulped and moved hastily away from the bar as Shepard began to walk away. "Let me know if you need any help Shepard!" he said, his voice high-pitched and enthusiastic.

Shepard stopped and shut her eyes, letting out another exasperated breath. She turned back to the bar and flagged the Asari down.

Garrus leaned over, that damned smirk still on his face. "Having trouble with your biggest fan?"

She sighed. "When will we stop running into the crazy ones?" She addressed the bartender. "Get me the strongest drink you have. Make it a double."

**Answer:** Helping Conrad Verner

_Note: In order to recreate the scene from the game (because I have a terrible memory) I made use of some actual in-game dialogue from this mission, which does not belong to me, it belongs to the writers of Mass Effect 2._


	7. Discipline

Mass Effect 30 Day Challenge Day 7

Prompt 7: Favourite Alien species.

SPOILERS: Mass Effect 2

**Discipline**

_2185 CE, _Normandy SR-2,_ 6 hours from Thorne System _

The Port Observation Lounge was deserted at this hour; Garrus didn't know why he couldn't sleep – something about the nature of their last mission hadn't sat well with him perhaps – but he hoped that a couple rounds of poker and a beer with Kasumi would put him a touch more at ease. The thief was nowhere to be seen as he entered the lounge however, and it wasn't just that she was playing the invisibility game. Garrus scanned the room with his visor and found no trace of the slight human woman lurking behind couches or on top of one of the shelves. He did pick up another scan, however, and turned to see… well, he wished he could consider it unexpected company.

"Garrus," Shepard said. She sat on one of the stools at the bar to the right of the door, a glass of something purple and fizzing in her hand. "Couldn't sleep?"

"It's just not happening tonight it seems," he said, walking over and standing at the bar. "You?"

Shepard laughed, and downed the fizzing purple liquid in a single gulp. "You know me Garrus," she said, slamming the glass down on the bartop. "I'll sleep when I'm dead."

"You _were_ dead Shepard," Garrus pointed out. "I don't think you got much rest then."

"That's just because the second I woke up people were yelling at me to do shit," Shepard shrugged. She took one of the long cylindrical bottles from the counter and poured some of the green liquid into her glass until it was half full. "And when there's a galaxy to save, sleep is kind of the opposite of restful."

Garrus nodded. He looked at her with mild concern as she took a bottle with blue liquid and mixed it with the green liquor in her glass, causing the concoction to fizz purple. "How many of those have you had?" he asked, unable to hide the concern in his voice. Shepard loved her liquor, everyone knew that, and nobody could blame her for cutting loose when they were on shore leave. But they were six hours away from a crucial mission and she was here getting drunk?

She shrugged. "A few. Just relaxing a bit – that last mission was… well, you know, you were there."

Garrus nodded again, shaking his head as he remembered the three of them fighting through the squads of reactivated geth, of Tali sobbing over her father's corpse and listening to his last message, which didn't hold even an ounce of affection or comfort for the poor girl. That said, the tongue-lashing Shepard had given the Admiralty board may go down in his personal history as one of the greatest things he'd seen on this crazy mission. He'd recorded it on his visor and showed it to the rest of the team after getting back to the _Normandy_. It had given them all comfort, for the message Shepard had given was clear:

_If you fuck with me and mine, I will crush you. _

Shepard gave him a tipsy smile. "Watch this," she tipped her head back and drank the fizzing purple drink, slamming the glass down on the counter. Then she pointed up towards the comm. system, and Garrus waited a few seconds before EDI's voice echoed through the room.

"_The women's restroom is on the other side of the ship, Shepard."_

Shepard cracked up and almost fell off of her stool. Garrus darted forward to steady her and she slumped against the counter, giggling. "She does that every time!" the Commander said. One of her empty glasses rolled away across the counter, bumping against the blue liquor bottle. "It's awesome!"

Garrus shook his head. "Is this really the best way to wind down after a mission Commander?" he asked, knowing he was being insubordinate just by thinking the question. "When we're about to go board a derelict Reaper?"

Shepard gave him a stern look. "It's my ship Vakarian," she said. Thankfully, she didn't reach for the liquor again. "I can relax any way I want." She leaned forward and gave him a smile that would have been seductive if she hadn't been so intoxicated. "Did you have something else in mind?"

Garrus rolled his eyes and reached over, helping her off the stool and onto one of the couches. "You're drunk Commander," he said, though a small part of his brain gave him a kick for it. She had certainly made her interests clear in the Main Battery after their encounter with Sidonis. "It would be inappropriate for me to take advantage of you in your compromised state."

"Even if it's not taking advantage?" Shepard smiled up at him from the couch, leaning back so her head rested on the back cushion. "Because if the woman consents Garrus, it's not taking advantage."

Garrus sighed. She really was rather adorable when she was drunk. Not something one usually says of the fierce Warrior the rest of the Galaxy knew as Commander Shepard, the woman who defeated Saren, who was ready to go to hell and back to stop the Collectors, who had crossed the galaxy twice over to help every single member of her crew, including him.

Warrior woman she may be, but in this moment, she was drunk off her ass, and she was adorable.

"All the same," Garrus said, sitting down next to her. "I'd rather wait until you have the ability to move without the threat of vomiting."

Shepard giggled, and she slumped sideways so that she leaned against him. Garrus gently put an arm around her and she let one of her hands rest on his chest. She looked up at him and he saw that even through the drunken haze she now looked more subdued.

They sat that way for a while before she said, her voice echoing in the otherwise empty room: "I was just thinking about my father," she said. "You know, after what happened with Tali."

Garrus nodded. "I admit, I've been in a similar state of mind since we left the Flotilla."

Shepard leaned back, giving him what passed for a scrutinizing look. "Your father's still alive, right?"

Garrus nodded. "We haven't spoken in a long time." He repositioned himself so that the Commander's elbow wasn't digging into his thigh. "After everything that happened at C-Sec, he made it clear he wasn't interesting in talking."

"Shit," Shepard shook her head slowly. "He should be proud of you. You're saving the galaxy. You defeated Saren! You're about to go on a suicide mission. What's his problem?"

"He would have preferred I have stayed with C-Sec in the first place," Garrus said, sighing. "That's the Turian way. Honor. Duty. Discipline. Follow the rules, maintain order, and most importantly, don't be a hero."

Shepard laughed. "That last part sounds like the opposite of you."

Garrus shrugged and wrapped his arm around her a little tighter. "Well," he said, looking out the observation window into the blackness of space as he spoke. "I never claimed I was a good Turian."

Commander Kara Shepard leaned against him and followed his gaze out to look at the stars. "Whatever your Dad thinks," she said, her words slurring together slightly. "You're my favourite Turian. And you guys aren't so bad. Even with those sticks up your asses."

Garrus laughed. "One thing can be said about a stick up the ass," he said. "It gets the job done."

"Unless the job is trying to stop the Reapers," Shepard noted, her voice slightly more sobered. "There's nothing conventional about this war we're fighting."

"Well," Garrus looked down at her, his blue eyes sparked with humor. "That's when you take the stick out of your ass and you beat the bad guys to death with it."

Shepard began to giggle uncontrollably until tears began to form in her eyes. "You heard Joker say that?" she asked, when she could speak again.

Garrus chuckled. "Kasumi thought it was funny," he said. "She shared it with me."

Shepard shook her head again. "She's everywhere man," she said. "Like a fucking ninja."

Garrus didn't know what she meant by that, but decided not to press the issue, assuming it was a human thing. "Where is she tonight?"

"She gave me the keys to the liquor cabinet and told me to help myself," Shepard said. "Mentioned something about creeping on Jacob in the armory."

Garrus snorted. "She's interesting, that one."

Kara nodded. She stared out at the stars for a long while, so long that Garrus thought she might have fallen asleep. When she spoke, she did so softly. "My Dad died about a year after Akuze," she said. "We weren't close."

Garrus looked down at her. She still stared out the window, looking neither happy nor sad. "I'm sorry Shepard," he said softly.

She shook her head. "It was a long time ago," she said. "And he was a better father than Tali's Dad, by a long shot."

Garrus gave her a gentle pat on the shoulder. "Even I could say that about my father," he said. "He may disapprove of my life choices, but he'd take the time to say he loved me on his deathbed. Or maybe at least say the Turian equivalent."

Shepard looked up at him. Her eyes were a bit unfocused, clearly a side-effect of whatever it was she had been drinking. "What's the Turian equivalent?"

Garrus rested his head against hers and gently stroked her shoulder, hoping she wouldn't mind. She didn't seem to. "I'm proud of you." He said.

Shepard nodded. After a moment of silence, she giggled. "Turians are weird," she said. "But somehow I guess I'd rather have a parent tell me they were proud of me than just give me a simple 'I love you'."

"We're soldiers Shepard," Garrus said. "We come from military families. Love is just a word, but pride? Especially the pride of our parents?"

She looked up at him. He should have made an effort to hide his disappointed expression, but it was so late, and she was so drunk, and ultimately Garrus didn't care if Kara Shepard caught him without his defences. After a moment she spoke. "Turian discipline and honor be damned," she said. "If your father isn't proud of you, then he's an idiot."

Garrus shrugged, her words warming him and causing a faint smile to cross his face. "That's true Shepard," he said, stroking her shoulder again. "But when it comes to this kind of thing, most Turians are."

She fell silent after that. Garrus was fairly certain she had fallen asleep, and he didn't want to risk waking her by moving. He watched the stars go by and reflected on his father, his family, his entire race.

_Pack of idiots or no_, he thought to himself as Shepard began to lightly snore in his arms. _No matter what, Turians always see our missions through to the end._

*  
**Answer:** Turians

_It's a bit of a ramble, and I just wanted to give you guys more drunk!shep, but I do love Turians. Not just because of Garrus, but they're a snarky bunch of badasses, the lot of them. So forgive my drabbles. _


	8. Wreckage

Mass Effect 30 Day Challenge Day 8 

Prompt Eight: Probing planets, or Mako style?

SPOILERS: Mass Effect 1 and 2

**Title: Wreckage **

"Probe away." Shepard watched the screen on her datapad as EDI released one of the little probes, sending it down to pick up the large deposit of Iridium she had found on the moon below.

"Nice!" She said, watching as the little data-bar on her screen ticked up by a couple thousand. "That's enough Iridium to get that assault rifle upgrade!"

"Good," Garrus said next to her. "Of course, I'll never complain about being able to do more damage."

"If you did I'd worry they'd replaced you with an impostor," Tali said from her side of the table.

It was early in the day cycle and the three of them sat in the mess hall, Tali and Garrus sharing a dextro meal while Shepard chewed idly on half of a sandwich.

"I think that about does it for this planet," Shepard said, tapping the datapad and pinging Joker. "You awake?"

"Bright-eyed and bushy-tailed Commander," Joker said. "You know me."

"We're done here," she said, exiting out of the mineral scanning data program. "Time for us to head to Tuchanka, figure out what's wrong with Grunt."

"Roger Commander," Joker said. "One desolate Krogan-covered rock, coming up."

Shepard checked her datapad as Joker left the orbit of the small moon and set in a course for the Krogan homeworld. "EDI," she asked. "How long will it take to get to the Aralakh system?"

"By our current course," the AI said. "Roughly thirteen hours and forty-six minutes."

Shepard nodded and finished her sandwich. "Plenty of time to get that assault rifle upgrade programmed in," she said. "Maybe even get a nap in."

"Do you remember how we used to find upgrades and minerals back in the old days?" Garrus mused, finishing his food and pushing his plate away. "Going down planetside every time we picked up an anomaly?"

"Ugh," Shepard shook her head and put the datapad down on the table. "Don't remind me. The fucking Mako."

"Remember when that thing took us over a cliff and Liara got thrown from one side of the thing to the other?" Garrus asked. He laughed. "If she hadn't had her barriers up…"

"I begged Shepard not to take me on any scouting missions," Tali chimed in, also done with her food. "When I went with you on the mission to find Liara I was so sick."

Shepard shook her head. "The damn thing couldn't go straight to save its life."

Garrus chuckled. "Maybe that was less the Mako and more the driver of the Mako."

Tali giggled, an odd sound filtered through her helmet, and Shepard raised an eyebrow at the Turian. "Vakarian, are you suggesting that I was a bad driver?"

Garrus leaned back in his chair. "I'm suggesting that perhaps the Mako could have gone a little more smoothly under more… skilled… hands."

"I'm plenty skilled," Shepard said, throwing a leftover crust of her sandwich at him. "I could drive that Mako in circles around you."

"Sure Commander," Tali said, and Shepard could hear her trying to hold back laughter. "Just like you can dance."

Shepard turned to look at the Quarian, who was innocently checking some readings on her omni-tool. "You guys sure are great," she said, voice dripping with sarcasm. "I'm SO glad you came with me on this suicide mission. It's _awesome_ reminiscing about the old days and my complete inability to drive an impossible vehicle."

"You're only cranky about it because we're right," Garrus said, giving Shepard a wink. "I thought I was going to die in that contraption."

"Because I'm a bad driver?"

"Because the Mako was about as maneuverable as a fat Elcor," Garrus replied. "But also, because you're a bad driver."

Tali giggled again. Shepard rolled her eyes. "Nice to know you two have my back," she grumbled.

"Hey," Garrus pointed out, leaning forward. "At least we weren't as bad as Wrex."

"Oh, Keelah," Tali shook her head. "I never thought I'd meet a Krogan with a nervous stomach."

Shepard felt her lips tilt upwards. "He _was_ a bit of a baby in that thing."

"And that wasn't your driving," Garrus said. "That was just Wrex being a baby."

Shepard's smile turned into a grin. "I wish you'd say that to his face," she said. "It'd be fun to watch him throw you across the mess hall."

"And I'd deserve it," Garrus said. "But I'd be right."

"Alenko was the other one," Tali said, and her voice suddenly grew quiet. "The other one who got sick in the Mako."

The three of them fell silent for a moment and Shepard's smile faded. "He used to ask me to let him get out and walk," she said after a moment. "So we wouldn't have to clean up after him when he threw up all over the control panel."

"He never actually did get sick," Garrus mused, playing with his fork. "Just didn't like ground travel."

"He preferred to stay on the _Normandy_," Tali added. "And let you and Garrus and Wrex go planetside to find the resources."

They all stayed silent, looked anywhere but at each other. Tali finished her work on her omni-tool while Garrus cleared the dishes and gave them to Sergeant Gardner in the kitchenette before returning, and they continued to sit in silence.

"I prefer it this way," Shepard finally said, picking up her datapad. "Fewer thresher maws."

"Agreed," Garrus said, clearly grateful for the change in subject. "It's faster too. And results in fewer repairs after a mission."

"At least you always repaired the Mako with style, Garrus," Shepard said, smiling again, albeit a much more subdued smile than before.

"Only to watch it die on the citadel," he pointed out. "After that ride through the conduit though? It was a pile of smoking wreckage. I think it deserved a rest."

The three of them laughed again, then Shepard sighed. "Even so," she said. "I'll take typing coordinates into a datapad over that shit any day."

"Because of the thresher maws?" Tali asked.

Shepard nodded. "Because of the fucking Thresher Maws."

*  
**Answer**: probing. Fuck the Mako

_Sorry guys, I'll always be on team 'Fuck the Mako'. I'm not particularly fond of the Hammerhead either, but I prefer probing to both of them. _


	9. Heels

Mass Effect 30 Day Challenge: Day 9

Prompt 9: Best Piece of DLC

SPOILERS: Mass Effect 2

Title: Heels

_Normandy SR-2, en route to Bekenstein, 2185 CE._

Kasumi Goto sat cross-legged on Commander Shepard's desk, studying the collection of model ships displayed in the glass case to her right. Shep was close to having the entire set – she was just missing a couple of Quarian models. The fish tank in the wall across from her position gave off a soft ambient glow, a calming ambiance save for the collection of dead fish floating sadly towards the top. The thief shook her head – Kara Shepard, hero of the citadel, savior of the galaxy, and she couldn't keep a few fish alive.

"Least she looks after you, right buddy?" Kasumi leaned over to ask the small wide-eyed space hamster who scuttled around his glass container. Boo looked up at her and gave her a very solemn 'squeep' before retreating into his little hut.

She chuckled, then looked in the direction of the closed bathroom door. "You done yet Shep?" she yelled. "Time's a-wasting."

"I'm not coming out." Commander Shepard's voice was muffled through the metal sliding door.

"Come _on_," Kasumi stood up and stretched her stiff muscles. "We're going to be in Bekenstein's orbit in less than an hour."

"I look ridiculous."

"It's just a dress Shep."

"It's a dress _and_ high heels," Shepard retorted through the door. "And jewelry. And _makeup_."

"Makeup?" Kasumi feigned astonishment and fear. "How horrible!"

"I will end you Goto."

"Just think of it as warpaint!"

"I'd rather think of it as NOT having to be on my FACE."

Kasumi rolled her eyes. "Do you really want me to go out there and tell the rest of your team that the Great Commander Shepard was bested by high heels and some eyeshadow?"

There was silence from the other side of the door. After a moment, Shepard's voice came through again. "There's also lipstick."

"Get out here already," Kasumi said, leaning forward and banging on the bathroom door. "Before I feed your space hamster some of those dead fish."

More silence, followed by another growl from Shepard. "I hate you."

"You love me," Kasumi corrected. "Now get out here and let me see already!"

A few more seconds passed before the door of the bathroom slid open and Commander Shepard stepped out, standing in front of her desk awkwardly so Kasumi could look at her.

The Thief studied the Commander with a bemused expression on her face. The dress was black and form-fitting, low cut to display just enough chest to keep things interesting, but the hem not short enough for scandal. Her muscular arms and legs did paint an odd picture, not in the least because Shepard stood with an embarrassed hunch, as if worrying she was going to fall out of the black stiletto heels. Her eyes were lightly made up and she wore a muted red lipstick, which would have looked stunning against her pale skin if not for Shepard's surly expression. Her short hair was clean and styled, and she wore a pair of silver stud earrings that Kasumi had not provided.

All in all, the Commander looked about as comfortable as a Krogan in a China Shop, but she did clean up well.

"Looking good Shep," Kasumi nodded in approval. "I knew formal wear would suit you."

"If there isn't alcohol at this party," Shepard said, glowering at Kasumi. "I will beat you to death with one of these heels."

"Don't worry your pretty little head," Kasumi said, smiling sweetly. "There will be plenty of fancy drinks for a fancy lady such as yourself."

Shepard's furious expression did not waver. "I am anything but fancy," she said. "Seriously Kasumi, I look ridiculous in this get-up. Couldn't you have at least gotten me a tailored suit or something?"

"You have to make an impression Shep," Kasumi said, folding her arms. "And nothing makes an impression on a man like a little black dress."

"So my mother told me," Shepard shook her head. "She would cry tears of joy to see me wearing something like this. The last time I wore a dress was senior prom."

Lightning fast, Kasumi snapped a picture with her omni-tool, making a mental note to find out which ship Hannah Shepard was currently serving on.

"Did you just-?"

"For nostalgia," Kasmui said, still smiling sweetly. "Plus nobody will believe that Commander Kara Shepard wore a dress without photographic evidence."

"Still hate you."

"Still don't care," Kasumi smirked. She paused for a moment, debating the question before finally going for it. She was never one for caution anyway. "The earrings weren't part of the package I sent you." She said. "Where'd they come from?"

Shepard blushed and looked down at the floor, sighing. "They were my mother's," she said. "An anniversary gift to her from my Dad. She gave them to me after he died. I've never worn them before."

Silence fell for a few moments, and Kasumi decided she wouldn't feel the least bit guilty about forwarding the pictures she'd snapped to Hannah Shepard. The Commander would thank her later.

"Well, they look good," Kasumi said. "So does the rest of you, now let's get a move on down to the shuttle, we're almost there."

Shepard sighed and began to awkwardly walk forward. She hadn't been kidding about not knowing how to walk in heels. "Let's get this over with," she muttered. "If I break an ankle, you're paying for it."

Kasumi chuckled. "You'll be fine once you stop looking like you're walking a tightrope over boiling lava."

"These things are five inches high!" Shepard complained as they stepped into the elevator and hit the button to take them down to the shuttlebay. "I'd prefer the lava!"

Kasumi shook her head. "Just tell Joker we're ready to go," she said. "The party's already started, and there's only so late you can be before it's unfashionable."

Shepard rolled her eyes and pinged Joker over the comm. He responded in the affirmative and she crossed her arms again. "As long as nobody sees me in this ridiculous outfit." She muttered. "Then I'll be-"

The elevator doors slid open on the engineering level and Shepard and Kasumi almost collided with Garrus, who held a datapad and some schematics in his hands. "Oh, I'm sorr-" he began, stumbling back, and then paused when he got a good look at the Commander. "Shepard?"

"Don't say a _word_ Vakarian," Shepard growled, stepping around him and storming towards the shuttle bay as fast as she could in her heels. "Not one fucking word."

Garrus blinked, and Kasumi saw him give the Commander an appraising look before chuckling and giving her a nod. Kasumi nodded back and waved as the elevator doors closed behind him. _So there _was_ something more than commander and subordinate to those two_, she thought to herself. She'd known it the first time she'd joined them on a mission and seen them in action together. _Hopefully they'll wake up and admit it to each other before it's all too late. _

"Guess you jinxed it," Kasumi commented as they stepped into the shuttle.

Shepard sat down in the shuttle, her legs in an extremely unladylike stance, and scowled. "I don't believe in jinxes," she muttered. "And I am serious, if I don't get at least two drinks in me at this damn party, I will shoot someone."

Kasumi smiled. This heist was going to be more entertaining than she'd ever imagined. "Don't worry Shep," she said. "Drinks or no, you'll get to shoot someone."

*  
**Answer:** Kasumi: Stolen Memory

_Note: I don't know how this happened, but in my headcanon Kasumi has a secret penchant for old early 21__st__ century pop songs, and her theme song is Ke$ha's 'Party at a Rich Dude's House'. So I wrote this while listening to Ke$ha. _

_Also, I feel Kara Shepard's pain. Every time I walk in heels, I feel like I'm going to break my damn neck. _

_Thanks again to everyone reading along _


	10. Power

**Mass Effect 30 Day Challenge: Day 10**

**Prompt 10:** Favourite Weapon

SPOILERS: Mass Effect 2

**Power**

_Horizon; 2185 CE_

Shepard studied the two colonists trapped in the seeker swarm stasis field with an expression of concern. "Think they're still conscious?" she asked Garrus, who stood just behind her while Grunt stalked the perimeter, shotgun in hand and keeping a look out for any more Collector drones.

Garrus leaned forward to study the standing colonist and he nodded slowly. "I think so. Good thing Mordin's countermeasure's working, or this would have been a really short mission."

"And we'd be here with the living statues," Kara shuddered. "I wish we could help them."

Garrus put a hand on her shoulder. "Stopping that Collector ship will help them. No matter what happens to them, if we stop them from being abducted, we've saved them."

She nodded, stepping away from the two colonists, her mouth a grim line. From their position, it looked as if they'd been frozen just as the one on the ground, a woman, was being helped up by the other, a man. Both of their faces were frozen in expressions of terror.

"Any sign of Williams?" Shepard asked as Garrus scouted up a set of stairs towards to inspect two other stasis colonists.

"Not so far," Garrus replied, returning. "Maybe they missed her."

"Or maybe she's already on that ship," Kara Shepard drew her assault rifle and signaled to Grunt to regroup. "Let's get moving."

The three of them went down a flight of steps towards more of the empty collector pods. According to EDI's data, their destination was on the other side of a large door just ahead.

"What's that?"

Shepard looked over to see Garrus pointing at a large greenish-grey item leaning against one of the pods. She crossed the stubby brownish grass and crouched down to study it. "Looks like one of the weapons the Collectors were using," she said. "Those energy weapons."

"Nasty," Garrus said. "But could be useful."

Shepard picked it up and studied the weapon. It was much lighter than it had looked and she found the trigger mechanism easily. After some inspection, she nodded and checked to make sure it was equipped with ammunition. "Definitely useful," she said. "These things were cutting through my shields like they were soft butter."

"Trouble!" Grunt called from just ahead of them in a courtyard just in front of the large door. Shepard and Garrus whirled to see more Collectors flying in over the tops of the buildings, armed with energy weapons. As the two of them sprinted forward to find cover, Shepard watched as one of the drones suddenly lurched forward with a spasm and its entire body crackled with a glowing yellow energy. It flew up into the air and a hollow, mechanical voice echoed around the courtyard. "ASSUMING DIRECT CONTROL."

"What the hell is that?" Garrus yelled, picking off one of the drones with his sniper rifle.

"No clue," Shepard replied, "But it's ugly as hell and it looks like it hurts."

The creature flung a ball of black energy in Shepard's direction and she leapt out of the way, feeling the attack singe her scalp. The creature spoke again.

"WE ARE HARBINGER."

"That's NOT good,"Garrus muttered. "Crap, Grunt!"

The Krogan was charging across the field towards the mutated Collector, hollering his signature battle cry: "I. AM. KROGAN!" Harbinger flung out an arm and Grunt went flying across the courtyard, crumpling against a stack of crates.

"Go help him!" Shepard ordered Garrus. "I'll deal with this asshole."

She hoisted up the Collector weapon and aimed it at the yellow glowing monster. She glared at it. "You fucked with my Krogan," she growled. "Now you're gonna get it."

"MY ATTACKS WILL TEAR YOU APART." Harbinger flung more black energy at her, but Shepard ducked and rolled behind one of the abandoned pods.

"Don't think so buddy," she yelled, popping up out of cover and pointing her new weapon at the creature. "Have some of THIS!"

She fired the Collector weapon and was almost blown backwards by the force of the energy beam that pulsed out of it. She hit Harbinger square in the chest and he stumbled backwards. Shepard saw out of the corner of her eye that Garrus had given Grunt medi-gel and the two of them were now back in action, taking out the drones surrounding Harbinger with their rifles.

The weapon vibrated in Shepard's hands and she did her best to maintain a firm grip, keeping the beam focused on the possessed Collector, and within seconds the creature disintegrated and his ashes scattered on the wind. The hollow voice echoed across the courtyard one final time and Shepard felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end: "THIS CHANGES NOTHING, SHEPARD."

The last of the drones fell and Garrus and Grunt rejoined her. "Everything all right Commander?" Garrus asked. "What was that thing?"

Kara Shepard blinked a few times and looked around the now empty courtyard. She looked down at the energy weapon that had taken out the possessed Collector faster than any other weapon she'd used could ever even dream. She began to laugh and Garrus and Grunt looked at each other a bit uncertainly.

"No clue," she said, grinning madly at her companions. "But this baby here? This is like fucking Christmas."

**Answer:** Collector Particle Beam


	11. Knives

**Mass Effect 30 Day Challenge: Day 11**

Prompt 11: Favourite Antagonist

SPOILERS: Mass Effect 3

**Knives**

"That was for Thane, you son of a bitch."

The assassin's body slumped to the ground and Shepard pulled her omni-blade from his gut. Silence echoed through the black-paneled room and she stood over Kai Leng's body as Garrus slowly approached her.

"Dead?" it was the only word he dared utter.

Shepard nodded. "Finally." She hunched down on and looked at the blade she had just shattered with her fist, the weapon that had killed her friend on the citadel and countless others. She picked it up at the hilt and examined the shortened blade. A smile crossed her lips. "What was it you said when we were fighting them by the human reaper?"

Garrus put a hand on her shoulder. "Just like Cerberus to bring a knife to a gunfight," he said softly.

She laughed. "Yeah," she said. "Bastards."

Garrus helped her to her feet and she looked down at the body, still holding the broken sword. "You all right?" he asked her.

She shook her head. "I don't know," she still wouldn't let go of the sword. "Garrus, it's no secret I have a lot of blood on my hands. I've killed Cerberus troops, collectors, husks, I've taken down Reapers and I even got Saren to shoot himself on the Citadel. But I've never enjoyed killing anyone…" she trailed off, studying the sword, now barely a knife, in her hand. "Until right now."

They stood together in silence while EDI still worked behind them at the console, downloading data. Garrus took her hand and gently pried the shattered weapon away from her and she sighed as he did so.

"To be fair," he said, letting the blade fall to the ground. "Of all the enemies we've faced, he's always been high on my list of people who really deserved killing."

Ariel nodded and took his hand. She let out a small smile and then laughed. "What was it I yelled at him on Thessia?" she mused softly, still staring at the body. "I think I said it again before I knocked him out just now."

Garrus also smiled. "I believe, Shepard, that you told Kai Leng that you were going to turn his face into your new hat."

Shepard laughed louder. "Yes," she said. "That's what I said." She shook her head at the body, the blood seeping out of it touching her boots. "I was wrong though," she bent down and picked up the broken sword again. "His face isn't worth the honor of being my hat."

Garrus put an arm around her. "I should think not," he said. "That's where you're going to put Harbinger next time you see his ugly face."

Shepard laughed again. "I don't think I could fit an entire Reaper on my head Garrus."

He hugged her. "Regardless," he said. "He's the only enemy whose face deserves the honor of being worn by Commander Shepard when this war is over."

"I guess so," she said, examining the weapon again. "All the same…" she wiped the blade carefully on her thigh and then slid it into the holster next to her pistol. "After all the trouble I went through to kill this son of a bitch, I think I'll bring along a little something to remember him by."

Garrus nodded. "And rightfully so," he said. "Don't know if there's a hell, but if anyone deserves to rot in it, it's him."

Shepard nodded back and the two of them turned around. EDI stood next to the console and the shimmering green image of the Prothean VI floated in front of her. "The Citadel is in Position." It said in a crackling voice.

Shepard looked at her companions and her hand tightened around the knife that was the remains of Kai Leng's blade. Maybe the little victories could prepare her for the final fight ahead of them.

Maybe.

**Answer**: Kai Leng

_Seriously, killing him in that scene was one of the most satisfying things I've ever done in this game series. To hell with him._


	12. Mockery

Mass Effect 30 Day Challenge Day 12

Prompt 12: Favourite human character (Other than Shepard)

SPOILERS: Mass Effect 2

**Mockery **

_In Transit, Horizon to Haestrom, 2185 CE. _

"Commander?"

The voice was loud and coming over the intercom. Kara Shepard groaned and rolled over, promptly falling off the comfortable leather couch and onto the floor of the Port Observation Lounge. She heard the tinkling of breaking glass like a gunshot next to her head and she sat bolt upright, wincing in the bright light. "Ow." She muttered, lying back down.

"Commander Shepard! Rise and shine! Time to greet the new day!"

Shepard shook her head blearily and looked around her. Her head throbbed and her mouth tasted like someone else had thrown up in it. After thinking it, she instantly regretted contemplating the concept of throwing up. The voice over the intercom sounded familiar. She coughed and pulled herself upright slowly, shading her eyes from the bright lights of the lounge. "Joker?" she croaked.

"Commander! Hey! You're up!" Joker's voice was horribly loud and seemed to rattle her brain around in her head. She groaned again and covered her face with her hands. "Good morning! How are you feeling?"

"I'm…" Shepard slowly attempted to stand, then sunk back to the floor, deciding this was in fact not a good idea and that the floor was a much safer place to be. "What happened?"

"Well," Joker's voice still rattled in her ear, and she was convinced that he was raising his voice on purpose. "We left Horizon about ten hours ago, and you went to the lounge after your meetup down planetside with Operations Chief Williams and Kasumi left you the key to her liquor cabinet!"

Shepard groaned again, squinting behind her at the broken glass that glittered on the floor. A damaged bottle of what looked like one of the Master Thief's special mystery blends. Several other empty bottles sat on the bartop along with a sad pile of used glasses. "Was that all me?" she mumbled, managing to get on her hands and knees and slowly shuffle towards the door.

"No, Kasumi helped," Joker said, his tone over the comm. still overly cheerful. "She's passed out on Jack's cot down in Engineering. She gave up long before you did though, gotta say, I'm impressed."

"Could you tone it down a bit Joker?" Shepard croaked as she shakily pulled herself to her feet using the couch to assist her. The entire room spun around and her head suddenly felt as if someone were beating it with a hammer. "I think my head's on fire."

"What's that Commander?" Joker said, raising his voice and making her wince in pain. "You think a song would help you feel better?"

"Flight Lieutenant, I will reinstate flogging if you sing so much as _one_ note," she growled, opening the door and stumbling out into the too-bright corridor of the crew deck. She just had to get to the elevator, she thought to herself. _Then I can pass out in my nice cold shower._

"A classic from the twentieth century you say?" Joker called over the comm, his voice now so cheery he could have put gameshow hosts to shame. "How about a little ditty to celebrate you kicking the Collector's Butts down on Horizon?"

"Oh god," Shepard felt the bile rise in her throat and she flung herself at the nearest door, falling into the restroom as it slid open. She barely made it to the toilet before she began to noisily vomit, but not loudly enough to cover the sound of Joker's slightly off-key warbles over the comm.

"_I've paid my dues… time after time… I've done my sentence… but committed no crime…."_

"Shepard," EDI's voice echoed behind Joker's singing. "The women's restroom is on the other side of the ship."

Shepard coughed and tried to make a scathing remark, but her stomach heaved again and she returned to her prior activity.

"_And bad mistakes… oh I've made a few… I've had my SHARE of sand KICKED in my FACE, but IIIIII'VE COME THROUUUUUUUUUUGH!"_

Shepard came up for air just long enough to growl at her pilot and ship AI. "I hate you both," she croaked. "SO much."

She retched again and returned to the toilet as Joker began the song's raucous chorus.

"_Weeeeeeeeeeeee are the champions, my friends… and weeeeeeeee'll keep on FIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIGHTING, to the end…" _

Shepard dragged herself up into a standing position using the side of the toilet stall for handholds and slowly stumbled out of the men's restroom, making a note to apologize to Gardner for the mess when she sobered up. She hit the button on the elevator and it slid open with a painful slowness as Joker continued to sing. Judging by the heads poking out of the crew's quarters and people's confused voices, Joker was broadcasting his song on all _Normandy_ channels.

"_Weeeeee are the champions, WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE ARE THE CHAMPIONS…" _

Shepard leaned against the back wall of the elevator and directed it up to her personal cabin, Joker's cacophonous warbles bouncing off the enclosed area. She felt as if her head was going to explode.

The elevator door slid open and Shepard dashed for her bathroom, tripping over a pair of her discarded boots as she did so. "FUCK." She yelled, and crawled into the bathroom on all fours.

"_NOOOOOOOO TIME FOR LOOOOOOOOOOOOOSERS, 'CAUSE WEEEEEEEEEEEEE ARE THE CHAMPIONS…."_

Kara Shepard reached up and turned the faucet on her shower until ice cold water began to pour over her. She curled up, fully clothed and in a fetal position under the water, even though it did nothing to drown out Joker's song.

"_OF THE WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORLD."_

Shepard groaned again. "When I get out of here Joker," she yelled over the sound of pouring water. "I will obliterate you!"

She heard Joker laugh. "Have a nice hangover Commander!"

"I hate you!"

She heard Joker close the comm channel, and before she could properly turn her thoughts to hating his guts her stomach lurched again, and she threw herself across the room, only just making it to the toilet.

_My pilot is made of pure evil_, she thought to herself when she finally came up for air. She crawled back over to the shower and curled up under it, hoping the cold water would put out the fire in her head. _Pure, unfiltered evil. _

_Guess next time I'll have to drink less_, she thought as she let the water pour over her. _Or if not, drink somewhere where Joker fucking Moreau isn't within mocking distance. _

Answer: Jeff 'Joker' Moreau.

_I love everything about Joker. He's a complete troll, but he has a compassionate side. In my headcanon, he mocks Shepard mercilessly for her drinking habit because he's secretly concerned about how much she consumes and he hopes that his off-key singing and embarrassment will get her to at least drink a little less even if she doesn't stop entirely. She'd never accept his help with the problem any other way. _

_Song is 'We are the Champions' by Queen. With apologies to the late great Freddie Mercury. _


	13. Safe

Mass Effect 30 Day Challenge Day 13

Prompt 13: Favourite Turian

Spoilers: Mass Effect 3

WARNING: LOTS of Shakarian feels

Title: Safe

_In Transit, Thessia to the Citadel, 2186 CE_

Kara Shepard woke up with a jerk and a soft gasp, almost sitting upright in her bed at the shock. It took her a second to get her bearings and pull herself out of the dreamworld and back to the reality of her cabin. The only light came from the ambient blue glow of the fish tank along the right wall, and she lay back onto her pillow and looked through her skylight to watch the stars rush by.

_Every single night,_ she thought. _Every single goddamned night. _

She turned to her left and saw that Garrus had not stirred upon her waking. She was glad – the only person on this ship who needed sleep more than she did was the Turian, who lay with his back to her, his shoulder slowly rising and falling in deep breaths.

Slowly, so as not to disturb him, Shepard slipped out of the bed and padded across the cabin towards her bathroom. She knew it would take more than splashing some water on her face to get their faces out of her head – the Asari being ripped apart by Brutes on Thessia, Thane as Kai Leng's sword pierced his chest, Mordin's resolved bravery as he stepped into the elevator on Tuchanka, Kaidan Alenko giving her the salute she hadn't realized would be his last on Virmire – but she did it anyway, leaning on the sink and looking at herself in the mirror. Dark circles ringed her eyes, her hair was tousled from tossing and turning, and she'd lost weight in the last few months.

_Of course,_ she thought to herself. _It's hard to gain weight when you barely eat anything anymore. _She shook her head at herself. _Steady diet of liquor and stims_, she thought. _That's really healthy Kara. Nice work. Hero of the Citadel, such a shining fucking example, a bastion of humankind._

Shepard continued to lean against the sink, the metal cold on her palms. She stayed that way for what felt like an age, staring down at the water as it slowly drained, her thoughts still intertwined with the faces of the lost. They never seemed to leave her, ghosts buried in her conscious mind. _So many gone, she thought. So many good people. So many people I couldn't save… _

Shuddering suddenly, Kara held back a sob. She had never been much for crying, and she wasn't going to let a little war against evil machines hell-bent on wiping out all organic change that, but it all ached inside her, the loss, the fear, the uncertainty. How would they know if this was enough? What if it wasn't?

What if after all this, after so many dead, they failed?

Shepard stepped backwards and slid down to sit on the cold tile of her bathroom floor, wrapping her arms around her knees and digging her fingernails into the flesh. She couldn't give in now, she was the example, the entire galaxy was watching her. She was the strength of humanity, and the strength of humanity did not break down and cry, not even when there was no-one around to see.

The soft hiss of the door opening make Shepard look up and she saw Garrus standing just beyond it, looking concerned. "I wasn't sure if you wanted to be alone or not," he said. "But it's late, and you have enough trouble sleeping as it is. What's wrong Kara?"

Kara Shepard looked up at him, meeting his inquiring blue eyes, staring at the Turian and taking him in, the man who had started out a young C-Sec Officer with something to prove, now the wise military advisor to the Primarch. He'd been through hell and back with her more than once, and now here he stood, and somehow he had known that she hadn't just gotten up to use the restroom or drink a glass of water. Kara had always promised herself she'd never fall in love, but here she was, practically married to this wonderful and dedicated man who never left her side unless duty called for it or she asked him to.

And she couldn't ask him to.

She had never cried in front of anyone, not even after Akuze, not when her friends died, but somehow his presence changed everything.

Around him, it was okay for her to crack the facade.

"Garrus…" she whispered. Tears began streaming down her cheeks and her knuckles turned white as she gripped even tighter at her knees. She couldn't stop either, not now that the dam had been breached, and she began to sob loudly, uncontrollably.

He was by her side in an instant, one arm around her shoulders and one hand resting on hers. He placed his forehead against her forehead and held her close, saying nothing but telling her everything with a single look.

_You are not alone. _

Kara didn't know how long she cried, or how long the two of them sat on the bathroom floor. They barely moved, except for Garrus occasionally wiping salty tears off of her cheeks or running his claws gently through her hair. She wanted to explain it all to him, talk out all her grief and share the burden that weighed so heavily in her chest, but all she needed was his touch, the look in his eyes, and that roguelike certainty that he seemed to radiate with every move. She met his eyes again and his thoughts were again brilliantly clear.

_I am here for you. _

As her sobs slowly died down, Garrus gently slid one arm under her knees and wrapped another around her back, lifting her as if she weighed next to nothing. She didn't resist, wrapping an arm around his neck and burying her face against his shoulder, resting her hot cheeks against his hardened exoskeletal plates. He still said nothing, simply carried her back to bed and laid her gently on the cool sheets. She looked up at him as he slipped in behind her and she didn't need to say anything either. Tears still glittered in her eyes and her nose was red from prolonged crying. The Turian wiped a final tear from her cheek and gently wrapped his arms around her, holding her with her back against his chest, one of his talon-like hands resting just over her heart.

She didn't need to tell him she had never cried like that in front of anyone before, that nobody else would ever see her cry like that.

He didn't need to tell her that he understood.

She didn't need to say that the only place she ever felt truly safe was in his arms.

He didn't need to reply that he felt the same.

She let her fingers entwine with his and she felt his forehead gently rubbing against her neck, nuzzling her in the dark.

She did not sleep, and neither did he, but the two of them remained close together until it was time to rise for the day, exchanging no words but only touch, speaking volumes without sounds ever passing their lips. Giving themselves a small amount of time before the storm in which to feel safe.

She rolled over and rested a hand on the left side of his face, still criss-crossed with faded scars. She smiled and looked into his eyes, which resonated with a silent _I love you._

She rested her head against his chest and squeezed his hand in the dark. _I love you too._

*  
Answer: Garrus Vakarian

_Like you guys didn't see that one coming. Shep/Garrus is my OTP. Any prompt involving them is going to be extremely mushy. I'd apologize, but these two crazy kids deserve some love after everything they've been through. _


	14. Queen

**Mass Effect 30 Day Challenge: Day 14**

**Prompt 14:** Favourite Asari

SPOILERS: Mass Effect 3

**Queen **

_Purgatory, the Citadel, 2186 CE_

Shepard should have known better than to drink that fifth glass of whiskey. Years of waking up in strange places should have made her acutely conscious of the reasons why blacking out drunk was a profoundly stupid idea, and yet here she was again, lying on a strange couch with no clue as to how she got there.

She opened her eyes slowly, grateful that she wasn't assaulted with bright lights. This definitely wasn't the _Normandy_; the pounding bass and sound of chatter and cheering was clue enough to that. Her head ached, and as she shut her eyes she noticed that the couch against her cheek was smooth leather and smelled of rubbing alcohol with strains of a rose-scented perfume.

Shepard tried to remember what she had been doing before her brain had switched off and she'd ended up in this position. Wincing against the thumping beat nearby her mind drifted back to the series of drinks that had set her upon the path to unconsciousness. _Well, Jack was here on shore leave_, she pondered, lifting a heavy hand up to rub one of her eyes_. I remember doing shots, with Jack there are always shots_. _Then James showed up with some more of his marine grunt buddies and I didn't want to look like a tool by not having at least a couple of drinks with them. Then I ran into Cortez and he actually looked happy for the first time since I met him…_

There may have also been dancing. Bad dancing, and lots of it.

Shepard risked opening her eyes again, squinting around at her surroundings. She seemed to still be in Purgatory, but this wasn't the unceremonious wake-up call she was used to getting at the Dark Star – in the men's restroom with indignant Turians glaring at her lying on the floor. This was a very comfortable couch, and that was a very pleasant smell.

Lifting her head up slowly, Shepard glanced around to try and get an idea of where she had been deposited after her blackout. She was off the dance floor, that much was certain. Not in the entryway either, the bass was too close. Where was she?

She slowly turned her head to the right and that was when she finally noticed the Asari sitting next to her. Aria T'Loak, former queen bee of Omega, now crime boss of the citadel, sat with her legs crossed and her arms resting casually on the back of the couch. She looked the same as ever, cool and calm and surveying the bar with an air of ownership, even if she had been unseated from her usual throne. She glanced over at Shepard and gave her an appraising nod, almost as if to say 'you're welcome.'

Shepard slowly dragged herself into a sitting position and gave Aria an awkward smile. Aria nodded again, still saying nothing, but crossing her arms in front of her with a gentle smile of casual apathy.

_I wonder if she found me_. Shepard thought to herself, slowly standing up_. I wonder if she had me put next to her here, to make sure I was safe._

_Or maybe this is just where I passed out and she didn't have any desire to move me. _

"Shepard, there you are!"

She winced at the high-pitched cry and turned towards the steps leading to the bar to see Liara running towards her. "Liara?" She croaked.

Liara put an arm around her and helped her up the steps. "Thank the goddess I found you, Garrus has been worried sick."

"I…" Shepard coughed and groaned. "Had a little too much to drink. Sorry."

Liara turned back when they reached the top of the steps. She looked back and seemed to be taking stock of Aria, who, Shepard noticed, had not moved a finger upon Liara's arrival.

"Aria," Liara said, giving her a cautious nod. "Thank you for keeping an eye on the Commander."

"Doctor T'Soni," Aria said, nodding to Liara, and Shepard noticed even in her hungover haze that Aria had a knowing smile on her face, a smile that said 'Shadow Broker' even if she did not address Liara as such out loud.

Liara gently helped Shepard out of Purgatory, muttering something about getting her back to the _Normandy_, and Shepard acquiesced, though she couldn't get that expression out of her head.

_Looks like the Citadel has a new Queen_, Shepard thought as they stepped into the elevator, _and that just might be working in my favor. _

Answer: Aria T'Loak

_It's hard for me not to love a character whose first rule is not to fuck with her, and when I played 3 for the first time and Kara Shepard woke up next to her in Purgatory after a bender, it sealed the deal for her being my favourite. Ice Queen, hardass, but has Shepard's back. Least that's how I saw this goofy little easter egg when you have a few too many drinks at the bar._

_Fic also has bonus Liara because everyone's favourite Shadow Broker comes in as a very close second for me on my list of favourite Asari. Liara is adorable and I love love LOVE her growth and development throughout the course of the series. _


	15. Seashells

**Mass Effect 30 Day Challenge: Day 15**

**Prompt 15:** Favourite Salarian

SPOILERS: Mass Effect 3, Extended Cut DLC

**Seashells**

_Tuchanka, 2187 CE, One year anniversary of the curing of the Genophage _

Dust became unsettled with her every step. The Krogan homeworld was a stark place, though much progress had been made in rebuilding it since the cure had been distributed and the destruction of the Reapers. Kara Shepard still didn't like being back here, even if today it was for a good reason.

She still needed assistance walking, the new hip causing her trouble despite months of time for healing. She leaned heavily on Garrus as the two of them crossed through the ancient halls of the Krogan ancestors, and did her best not to wince at the pain.

She should be grateful after all. That made it twice she'd come back from the dead, and this time she hadn't had Cerberus tech to make her all shiny and new. She was still surviving.

Behind them the rest of the old gang, those who could make it at least, trailed along, those who hadn't come along on the old mission gasping at the beautiful crumbling architecture and the sculptures. Shepard and Garrus didn't notice it much, though Liara seemed enamored with it all. _Of course, we didn't have time to stop and admire it a year ago_, Kara Shepard thought to herself. _We were busy getting shot by a Reaper._

She laughed to herself, then groaned as her hip twinged again. Garrus stopped and grunted with concern, but she shrugged him off and grumbled at him. "Don't fuss, you old bird," she muttered, giving him a pained smile. "I'm doing just fine."

"I'll fuss as much as I damn well please," he growled at her, putting her hand on his arm. "Come on. Not much further now."

Shepard nodded and swallowed, looking up at the monolithic structure that towered over them. The Shroud. "Don't remember it being this tall," she said, stopping for a moment so they could wait for the rest of the group to catch up. "Was it this tall before?"

"Can't say for sure," Garrus said. "What with being distracted by all the Brutes trying to kill us and everything the last time we passed through."

Shepard smiled. "Me neither." She turned to her companions. "Hey Liara," she called behind her. "Was the Shroud always this tall?"

Liara shrugged, moving up to stand beside her old friends. "I honestly couldn't say," she admitted. "The last time I came through here I was distracted by all the Brutes."

Garrus laughed. "Glad I wasn't the only one," he said.

They pressed on, Liara being followed by James, Tali and Doctor Chakwas. A small crowd, but everyone else who might have been interested was busy with the immense task of rebuilding a broken galaxy. It was a miracle they had found the time to gather together at all.

"I think I see them," Garrus said, and Shepard turned her head to see a small group of Krogan standing just inside the archway that led to the Shroud's entrance. She raised a hand to wave to Wrex and Bakara, who both waved back. In one arm, the female Krogan held a small bundle that Shepard had to assume was the newest member of clan Urdnot that Wrex had mentioned the last time they had spoken.

They arrived at the arch and hugs were exchanged, hands shaken, and backs slapped. Wrex grabbed Shepard and Garrus and gave them both affectionate headbutts before being admonished by the Turian for doing so, Shepard still recovering from her injuries and everything.

"Looks like you managed to work that stick back up there after all," Wrex chuckled, giving Shepard a slap on the back that made her teeth rattle in her skull. "She's indestructible, this one."

"Doesn't mean you have to try Wrex," Garrus glared for a moment, then the old friends shook hands and laughed together. Kara smiled. Always an unlikely friendship, but like so many of their bonds, they were forged in battle, and had stood the test of time, of trial…

… and of sacrifice.

"Are we ready?" Shepard asked Bakara, who stood apart from the main group, gently patting the fussing baby on the back.

The Krogan matriarch nodded. "Everything's been prepared as you requested," she said. "This way."

Her words made the rest of the group fall silent and they all filed through the archway towards the crumbling courtyard.

Shepard remembered this room, every detail of it. It haunted her nightmares along with the regular rotation of places her most trusted friends and comrades had given their lives to end the bloody war they had given up so much to win.

In front of the broken elevator shaft, a small statue had been erected. It was to scale, as Shepard had requested in her notes to the Krogan craftsmen who she had commissioned it from. The stone was smooth and grey, and the features were almost lifelike. Shepard half expected him to step off the little platform and begin waving his omnitool in her face, babbling excitedly about the results of his latest experiments and tests.

But he didn't, because it wasn't him, it was only a memory of him, and everything he had done for the war, and for the Krogan.

The raised stone platform the statue had been set on had a metal plate welded to it, and on it the following words were inscribed, just as Shepard had ordered them:

_**Doctor Mordin Solus  
The Very Model of a Scientist Salarian  
Cured the Genophage  
Someone Else Might Have Gotten It Wrong**_

The entire group fell silent and Shepard noticed them all looking at her expectantly, and she slowly stepped forward, Garrus helping her for the first few steps.

She limped forward and stood a few feet in front of the statue, staring up at the solemn frozen expression of the Salarian doctor. She remembered meeting him for the first time in the clinic on Omega, his entire body vibrating with emotion and feeling. Their awkward conversations about interspecies relations on the _Normandy_. His glib attitude towards field testing on Horizon. His flawless renditions of Gilbert and Sullivan songs.

Which he sang even as he rode up the elevator towards certain death, towards his noble sacrifice.

His redemption.

Shepard reached into her pocket and pulled out a perfect pink shell, taken from the beach where Zaeed had happily retired after the worst of the dust had settled at the end of the war. She held it in her palm for a moment, looking down at it and finding herself at a loss for words.

His voice echoed in her mind, as it did most every night, in her dreams.

_Had to be me. _

Shepard felt Garrus step up beside her, followed closely by Liara, Tali, James, Doctor Chakwas, and Wrex. The group looked at her expectantly and she stepped forward until she stood directly in front of the visage of her old friend.

_Someone else might have gotten it wrong. _

She set the little token down between the statue's feet, and it stood out bright pink against the grey stone. Shepard looked at her friends and they all remained silent, waiting for her final word, her commemoration on this day, on the anniversary of the cure of the genophage and the sacrifice of this singular Salarian.

She let out a breath, and felt tears form in her eyes as she spoke:

"He wanted to run tests on the seashells."

Answer: Mordin Solus

_I have no notes for this piece, only the sound of my gross sobs as I remember the moment Mordin told me on Tuchanka that it had to be him. Here's to you, Doctor. Your sacrifice will never be forgotten. _


	16. Before

Mass Effect 30 Day Challenge: Day 16

Prompt 16: Favourite Krogan.

SPOILERS: Mass Effect 3

**Before**

_Normandy SR-2, Orbiting Tuchanka, 2186 CE_

Shepard thought the war room was empty when she first entered – the Primarch had retired to his makeshift quarters and most of the analysts and technicians were either in the mess or relaxing in the Port Observation Lounge. There was little left to analyze or tweak at this point; the next step was obvious to everyone – cure the genophage and gain the Krogan as assets in the war against the Reapers.

Hoping to take one last look at the numbers before attempting to steal an hour or two of sleep, Kara Shepard crossed the room to examine the console detailing the logistics and teams assisting in the building of the Crucible.

"Shepard."

The low rumbling voice made her start, but Shepard turned with a smile to see Wrex still diligently examining the console he had adopted as his own since his arrival on the _Normandy_. She crossed back to his side of the room and leaned against the wall beside it. "Shouldn't you be getting some sleep Wrex?"

Wrex grunted. "What, and miss all the fun of trying to direct ground forces on Tuchanka?" He pressed a key on his console and the screen went dark. "No, sleep's the last thing on my mind." He turned to face her, his expression almost gleeful. "The Genophage cured Shepard. We've never been this close before."

Shepard rested a hand on the old Krogan's shoulder. "Hey, if that's what's on your mind we should be celebrating!" she pointed out. "It's going to change everything for your people."

Wrex shook his head and began walking towards the exit, Shepard falling into step beside him. "I'm not going to throw a party before we even hit planetside," he said. "Ask me again when the Salarian's cure actually works."

Shepard shrugged. "Fair enough," she said. "We've still got a few hours before everything's ready though. Fancy a drink? I have a bottle of ryncol in my quarters I've been saving for my favourite Krogan."

Wrex laughed. The two of them crossed through the security checkpoint and Shepard nodded at Traynor, who was still at her posting tweaking the comm. network. She was another member of the crew who never seemed to rest. "Really Shepard? You know what happened the last time you drank ryncol with me."

"I don't remember," Shepard said mildly, summoning the elevator.

"My point exactly," Wrex chuckled. The two of them stood side-by-side as the doors slid closed. Wrex leaned against the back wall and gave Shepard a look that could almost be interpreted as mischievous. "Sure your Turian boyfriend won't object to me coming up to your quarters Shepard?"

Shepard rolled her eyes. "I don't know if 'boyfriend's' the right word Wrex," she said, crossing her arms. "I just… I don't know what we are."

Wrex chuckled again. "You two are definitely something, that's for sure."

Shepard shook her head and entered her cabin, crossing over to drop a few food pellets into her space hamster's cage. "You think so?"

Wrex leaned against the fish tank and laughed. "Hah, Shepard, take it from someone who was there from the beginning, the Turian's had eyes for you since we first all teamed up to go after that bastard Saren."

"And he's had more than that since then," Shepard commented, opening a drawer in her desk and pulling out a dusty bottle of ryncol. "Knowing the rumor mill on this ship, I sure you're aware of that."

Wrex crossed the cabin and sat down slightly uncomfortably on the leather couch, which was easily two sizes too small for him. "You two kids'll get all that sorted out sooner or later," the Krogan shrugged. "You know, in between this war we're fighting."

Shepard laughed and sat down, pouring the ryncol out into two glasses. "Feels like it never ends," she said, handing one to Wrex.

He grunted and studied his drink. "It's gonna end soon," he said, shaking his head. "Just not like in the old days, is it?"

Shepard shook her head and poured out her own portion of the Krogan liquor. "The threat was the same," she said, sighing. "It just didn't feel this bad back then. We hadn't lost so much."

Wrex leaned back and lifted his glass, giving Shepard an appraising eye. "To Alenko," he said. "_That_ was a human with a quad."

Shepard smiled, raising her glass and clinking it with his. "And I wish he could hear you say that," she said. "He was always terrified of you."

"Hah," Wrex barked, knocking back his ryncol in a single gulp. "He was terrified of his own shadow."

Shepard smiled and took a sip of the ryncol. It tasted like battery acid and she coughed. "I remember when I took the two of you with me on the citadel when we went to talk to Mister Bhatia," she said. "About his wife. Every time you so much as breathed at Kaidan back then he looked like he was going to throw up."

Wrex chuckled. "He got better though, we were almost having full conversation before…" he trailed off. "Well, you know."

Shepard sipped her ryncol again. Her head was already starting to buzz. She changed the subject. "Remember when I almost shot you?"

"How could I forget?" Wrex laughed, pouring himself another belt of ryncol. "It's been almost three years and I still don't believe we both walked away from that beach with all our organs."

"And we went on to defeat Saren," Shepard added.

"And then you died," Wrex grunted, emptying his glass again. "And came back. That's the kind of thing reserved for myths and legends."

Shepard shrugged. "I'm just a soldier," she said. "Always have been, always will be."

Wrex grunted and shook his head. "Shepard, if you're just a soldier, then I'm just another dumb Krogan."

Shepard cocked an eyebrow. "Wrex, you're the clan leader of Urdnot and you're about to cure the genophage. That's hardly just another dumb Krogan."

"And you're just a soldier who's one cure away from uniting the Krogans and the Turians and stopping the greatest threat the galaxy has ever faced," Wrex pointed out.

Shepard finished her ryncol. She sighed and smiled wanly. "Maybe, but that's where we started out, she said. "Before all this."

Wrex grunted again and poured more liquor into the two empty glasses, then taking one and raising it. "Then here's to before Shepard," he said, giving her a reptilian grin, all his teeth showing. "To the soldier and the Krogan we used to be. Without 'em, we wouldn't be worth a damn to this war."

Shepard picked up the glass of ryncol and smiled, clinking her glass with Wrex's again. "Damn right," she said. "Here's to before."

*  
Answer: Urdnot Wrex

_Sorry guys, I didn't mean for this to be another sadsauce serious fic, seems all I can write lately is sad or serious even when I'm writing about the characters that make me happy (and Wrex makes me insanely happy). I'm aiming to at least try and go back to the funny with the next update, so stay tuned. _


	17. Induction

Mass Effect 30 Day Challenge: Day 17

Prompt 17: Favourite Quarian

SPOILERS: Mass Effect 3

**Induction**

_Normandy SR2, Leaving Horizon, 2186 CE_

Tali had passed out at the bar, or at least Shepard had thought she had. The Quarian lay with her head in her arms, a glass of Turian brandy clenched loosely in her right hand. Shepard wasn't certain, but it sounded almost as if she were snoring.

"Tali?" Shepard leaned forward and rested a hand on her friend's shoulder. "You all right?"

"Unnngh," the groan, filtered through her helmet, was a soft one. "Shepard? Everything's all sideways."

"You're lying on the bar Tali," Shepard pointed out. "And you haven't finished your drink."

Tali slowly sat up and looked at the glass in her hand. "I lost my…" she looked around the bar, wobbling from side to side on her stool.

"Straw?"

"Emergency…induction…" Tali mumbled, slumping to her left.

Shepard caught her and steadied her on the stool. "I know, I know, your emergency induction port." She helped Tali to her feet. "Come on, let's get you somewhere you can lie down for a bit. You can have your induction port back later, okay?"

Tali groaned again and rested her head against Shepard's shoulder. "Promise?" the tone of her voice gave the impression that underneath her mask, she was smiling.

Shepard patted her on the back and began to gently guide the Quarian to the doors out of the Port Observation Lounge. "Promise."

They slowly stumbled down the hall of the crew deck towards the elevator, Tali occasionally giggling and hiccupping while leaning on Shepard's arm. "Everything's spinning!" she said. "Evvvvvvrything."

"Don't worry Tali," Shepard said. "That's normal. We're going to go down and say hi to Daniels and Donnelly now, all right?"

"I like them," Tali mumbled in the same slurring tone. "I wish they'd stop pretending and just finally admit that they love each other and be happy before the galaxy gets destroyed."

"The galaxy's not going to be destroyed," Shepard said, more to reassure herself than her friend, as she summoned the elevator. "And since when did Daniels and Donnelly love each other?"

"Have you heard those two argue?" Tali retorted as the elevator slowly descended towards the engineering deck. "They're like an old married couple. Like how Joker and EDI used to be back before she had a body. That's true love if I ever saw it."

"Garrus and I don't argue," Shepard said, doing her best to keep Tali steady against her shoulder.

"Sure you do, just with all the sarcasm and everything," Tali replied, waving her hand. "I think it's adorable. Much more romantic than poetry or going on dinner dates."

Shepard laughed. "Garrus' idea of a date is going up to the top of the presidium and taking pot shots at beer cans with a sniper rifle."

Tali nodded, almost falling forward. "Now that's romance," she said, waving a finger around in Shepard's face. "I'd take that, just with shotguns instead of rifles."

The elevator doors slid open and Shepard gently guided Tali towards engineering. "I should get you some water," Shepard muttered. "Now, do you have a place to lie down?"

"I could take the floor riiiiiiight there," Tali giggled, pointing at a spot at the bottom of the stairs that led towards the lower engineering deck.

Shepard shook her head and moved towards the main deck of engineering. "Daniels? Donnelly? Adams? Is anyone up?"

"Commander?" the doors slid open and Gabby turned from her console with a concerned expression. "Oh my… is Tali all right?"

"She… had a bit too much to drink." Shepard said, steadying Tali against her again. "Is there a place where she can lie down around here?"

"Sure," Gabby nodded, changing a couple of settings on her console. "There's a spot on the lower deck where she likes to rest."

"All right," Shepard said, and Gabby moved to Tali's other side so the two of them could help the inebriated Quarian down the steps. "Where are Adams and Donnelly?"

"Sleeping, for a change," Gabby said, shaking her head. "We're trying to rest in shifts before the next big push. So far it's going all right, but I've been up for almost thirty hours."

Shepard grimaced in sympathy. "I know how you feel," she said. "When do you get your shift?"

"Probably in the next hour or so," Gabby said. "Once Ke- I mean Engineer Donnelly wakes up."

Shepard smiled, reflecting on Tali's comment about the two engineers on the elevator, but decided to say nothing. "Where should I put her?" she nodded around the lower engineering deck.

"Over here," Gabby pointed at a cot in the back corner.

Shepard recognized it. "This is where Jack used to hang out," she said.

"Yeah," Gabby helped lead Tali over to the cot. "Tali's been sleeping down here ever since she came back to the Normandy. I think she used to sleep down here when Jack was on board too." The engineer smiled. "They were actually pretty close. Never would have guessed it from first meeting them."

"Me neither," Shepard said. She helped Tali lie down on the cot, and the Quarian rolled over on her side and emitted a happy sigh. "Think you can find some water? She's going to want some pretty soon."

"No problem Commander," Gabby said, heading for the stairs.

Shepard patted Tali's hand. "You all right there?" she asked.

"I miss Jack," Tali mumbled, the glowing light on the mouthpiece of her helmet flickering. "We used to spend time together here, it was nice."

Gabby returned with a glass of water and Shepard handed it to Tali. "I saved your induction port," she said, helping Tali sit up and handing her the straw. "Drink this before you go to sleep, okay?"

"Thank you!" Tali said, guiding the straw to her mouthpiece with some difficulty. "You're so nice to me Shepard, you too Gabby. I love you both."

"Think she's gonna be all right?" Gabby asked, bending down to examine Tali with some concern. "I've never seen her this drunk… well, ever."

"I'll take care of her," Shepard said. "You can get back to work if you need to."

"Thanks Commander," Gabby nodded, and gave Tali a wave. "Feel better Tali."

"Bye bye!" Tali warbled as Gabby made her way up the stairs.

"Here," Shepard said, helping Tali hold the straw. "Drink some more of this."

"Thank you Shepard," Tali said, her words still slurring together. She sipped slowly and then leaned over so her head rested on the cot's pillow. Shepard remained crouched next to the cot, unsure if her friend had fallen asleep or not.

She set the glass of water down on a nearby crate and sat with her legs crossed on the floor, not wanting to leave if Tali alone. She had next to no experience with dealing with a drunk Quarian, but figured nobody enjoyed drunkenness, or the inevitable hangover which followed it, alone.

"Shepard?" Tali whispered, and Shepard leaned forward.

"You all right Tali?" she asked.

"Everything's spinning…" Tali muttered. "I don't like it."

"It'll be okay Tali, you just had a little too much to drink."

"Can you…" Tali mumbled. "Can you… stay?"

"I'm not going anywhere Tali," Shepard said, holding her friend's hand. "You'll be fine."

Tali rolled over slightly to face the bulkhead. "Please don't go…" she heard the Quarian whisper. "I don't want to be alone anymore. I'm so tired of being alone."

Shepard pushed herself up and slowly sat down on the cot, resting a hand on Tali's shoulder. Her friend reached up and clumsily took it, pulling Shepard down until she lay next to her. Shepard thought she could hear her friend sobbing through the thick purple glass of her helmet.

"Don't worry Tali," Shepard said, giving her friend a gentle hug. "I'm not going anywhere."

"You've always been there for me Shepard," Tali mumbled. "No matter what. Thank you…"

Shepard hugged her friend as her cries slowly turned to the soft breathing of sleep. She dared not move – even dead drunk, Tali could use some extra sleep. They could all use some extra sleep.

She didn't know how long she and Tali lay together on the small uncomfortable cot, but it was soothing. The engines hummed overhead, occasionally Shepard caught words of conversation between Daniels and Donnelly and EDI responding to Adams' questions. She felt herself smiling as she held her friend's hand and kept her company in the engineering subdeck.

"Shepard?"

"Yes Tali?"

"I…" Tali paused for a moment. "I think I'm gonna throw up."

Shepard blinked, then reached over, grabbing Tali's mask and undoing the clasps as best she could with one hand. As the Quarian threw herself over the side of the cot, Shepard held her mask and gently rubbed Tali's back as she vomited copiously into a nearby open crate.

"It's okay Tali," Shepard said, holding back a laugh. "I'm here."

*  
Answer: Tali'Zorah vas Normandy

_This little easter egg with Tali in ME 3 isn't the only reason I love her, but it's one of my favourite moments Drunk!Tali is adorable. This has a touch of femshep/Tali in it, because I must admit, femshep/Tali/Garrus is my Mass Effect OTT. So, feel free to read into the cuddling as something more if you like, but it's not a necessary component of the fic. I figure even just as good friends, nobody wants to be alone when they're puking after having a little too much fun. _

_I love you Tali. If I ever get around to playing as Sheploo, I'll definitely be throwing some romance your way. 3_


	18. Standstill

Mass Effect 30 Day Challenge: Day 18

Prompt 18: Things you'd change about the series.

SPOILERS: Mass Effect 3

**Standstill**

_Normandy SR-2, In Transit, 2186 CE_

"How much longer until we get to the Cerberus base?" Garrus gently rested a hand on Shepard's shoulder – he wasn't worried about waking her, he knew that after the latest round of nightmares she wouldn't be falling asleep any time soon.

She rolled over and sighed. "Last time I checked we had about three hours left on the flight path," she said. "Plenty of time to not get any sleep and ruminate on bad dreams."

Garrus pulled her closer to him on the bed and held her in silence for a while. She let him, even though she was feeling restless. She felt a bit like a caged animal, itching to get past all the waiting and just do it already, just storm the Cerberus base and rescue everyone on Earth and defeat the Reapers.

And, of course, while she was at it, bring back all the dead, and get herself a unicorn that farts candy and cocaine, among other impossible things.

"Ever wish it had happened differently?" Garrus asked her softly, his breath tickling one of her ears.

She turned to him and rested her head on his chest. "Wished what happened differently?" she asked.

Garrus shrugged and put an arm around her. "You know, life. Ever wish you'd never gotten involved in all this mess with Saren and the Reapers and the whole galaxy falling apart at the seams? Ever wish you'd had a normal life?"

Shepard chuckled and looked up at him. "I was a spacer kid," she said. "I can count on one hand the number of times I've actually lived on a planet. I didn't exactly start out with a 'normal' life."

Garrus chuckled too and gently ran his claws through her hair. "Fair enough," he said, looking up through the window in Shepard's roof at the rapidly passing stars. "I don't know, I just wonder how things would be different if…" he trailed off.

"If we weren't soldiers?" Shepard asked.

"Something like that," Garrus replied. "Though for that to happen I'd have to have been born something other than Turian. The military's just in our blood."

"That's how it was in my family," Shepard said. She could hear Garrus' heart beat through his chest. "I come from a long line of soldiers."

"Another thing we have in common," Garrus said, leaning down to nuzzle the top of her head.

She smiled. "We have plenty of things in common," she said. "We both have a keen sense of justice, we're both good shots with a rifle, we're both terrible dancers."

"Hey now," Garrus pulled her upwards until her face rested against his. "You're the one with the terrible reputation for dancing, I've at least got some rhythm."

"You'll have to prove that the next time we're on the Citadel Vakarian," Shepard grinned. Then her smile faded. "Well, except…"

They both fell silent. Garrus interlaced his fingers with Shepard's and the two of them turned to look up and out of her window at the stars. The words sat unspoken between them.

The Citadel as they knew it was no more.

"I know what I'd wish," Garrus said softly, squeezing her hand.

"What would you wish for?" Shepard asked.

"The chance to prove to you that I'm a good dancer."

She laughed. "Keep dreaming Vakarian," she said, giving him a kiss on the cheek. "Maybe when we finally kill Kai Leng you can dance a jig for me over his bleeding corpse."

"I'll think about it," Garrus laughed, and the two of them settled back against the pillows again.

A long moment passed before Shepard spoke again. "I'd just wish for more time," she said.

Garrus leaned down and gave her an appraising look. "More time for what?"

She shrugged and leaned against him. "More time for us," she said. "I mean, think about it, the closest thing we've had to a date is shooting at beer cans off the top of the presidium. This isn't exactly a traditional romance."

Garrus gave her a smile. "Come on Commander," he said. "Is there anything about either of us that's traditional?"

She smiled back and they shared a brief kiss before she spoke again. "All the same," she said. "I wish that we'd had more time. I mean, the first few months I knew you we were just working together, hellbent on stopping Saren. And after that… well…" she shrugged sheepishly. "I was sort of dead for two years."

Garrus rested his head against hers. "And then we went on a crazed suicide mission to stop the Collectors," he said. "And both got tied up with our respective racial politics. And ever since I've seen you again it's been pretty much nothing but work work work all the time."

"See?" Shepard said. "Not that I don't enjoy having you by my side every time we have to go into a fight, it's just…" she bit her lip and sighed. "It's hard to think about life after this war. About the things _I_ want. About love."

Garrus gently lifted a hand to her face and turned it so she could look into his eyes. "We'll have time," he said softly, giving her a light kiss on the forehead. "After we destroy the Reapers."

Shepard gently ran a hand over the right side of his face, the side with the old scars, and sighed again. "I hope so," she said.

Garrus adjusted her so that she rested on his chest again. "Don't think about that now," he said. "We've still got a few hours before the world falls down around us."

Shepard nodded and closed her eyes. "Yeah," she whispered. "We do."

They didn't speak again, only lay entwined in the semi-darkness of Shepard's cabin. They both thought but left unsaid a mutual desire, the wish they hadn't shared.

_Maybe, just once, just for us, time will come to a standstill and we can stay in this moment here._

_We can stay in the calm before the storm. _

Answer: More time with Garrus

_Again with the Shakarian feels. I don't know, I enjoy the dynamic of the Garrus romance and the almost bro-like sarcasm and teasing relationship he has with Shepard even if they're romantically involved, but I still like to think that when no-one else is watching, the two of them act disgustingly sweet and in love and all regretful that they couldn't have more time together before the stupid war fucked things up. I don't know. Feels. I have them. _


	19. Orders

Mass Effect 30 Day Challenge: Day 19

Prompt 19: Your perfect ending to the series

SPOILERS: Mass Effect 3, Extended Cut DLC

WARNING: LOTS of Shakarian feels, Extreme Headcanon

**Title: Orders**

_1 Week after activation of the Crucible and the destruction of the Reapers, 2186 CE_

The _Normandy_ had trouble landing in what was left of the streets of London; between the massive corpses of the destroyed Reapers and the fallen pieces of the Crucible it was almost impossible to find a clear spot. Cortez had wanted to take them down in the shuttle but Joker had refused, as had the rest of the crew and the team.

Everyone wanted to be there, just so they could see it with their own eyes.

The clearest spot was across the river from the makeshift medical facility, and the team had to do some creative maneuvering to make their way over the rubble of the nearest bridge. Joker had some trouble in the worst spots, as did Liara thanks to all of her injuries from the fight still not being fully healed, but the little group made their way to the other side as best they could.

"Radio ahead," Ashley said to Garrus. "Let them know we're coming."

"Already done," Garrus said. He had said almost nothing in the last week. Nobody, not even Tali, had heard a word out of him since they had received the transmission from what remained of Alliance headquarters. His silence was unnerving, though the rest of the team understood. All of them had been subdued, had barely slept, since they had gotten the news.

Now all they had was the hope that the transmission had carried the truth.

London was still a war zone, even if the war was over. Looking around the crew of the Normandy saw bodies sprawled across the streets and pieces of ancient Reaper wreckage on top of crushed buildings. The stench of burning bodies hung in the air, but that was almost a welcome thing. Burning bodies meant that people were starting to rebuild, to clear away the destruction, to make room for the future.

"Up ahead," James said, pointing at the tall building on the other side of an ash-covered square. Bright red phone boxes lay on their sides, all the glass fallen from their windows, and a row of soldiers lay at the feet of a statue, but just beyond them an old building that appeared mostly intact stood with a large red cross painted crudely on each side. None of them needed to ask if that was the place.

Two soldiers – a Human and a Turian – stood on either side of a pair of heavy doors, both of them holding military issue rifles. They saluted as the little group approached, and as they passed through the doors, Garrus heard the Human whisper to his companion. "Was that-?"

"Yep," the Turian replied. "It's her team."

Nobody had to ask to whom the soldier was referring. Garrus began to walk down the long hallway faster, Tali and James keeping pace with him while Doctor Chakwas and Liara fell in slightly behind with Joker and the rest of the crew, most of them unable to keep up. Another soldier, this one Asari, stood in front of a door with a pistol, which she let fall to her side as the Turian approached. She almost looked terrified.

Garrus didn't slow down until he was mere inches from her. He glared down at the woman, who swallowed anxiously. She clearly knew who he was just as well as the men at the door did. He let out a soft growl and said three words, voice hard as steel, that echoed along the dingy corridor:

"Where is she?"

The Asari soldier wordlessly pointed to her right and Garrus took off down the hallway, this time not waiting for anyone else to keep pace with him. He thought he heard Tali talking with the woman behind him, asking questions, what condition was she in, was it safe to move her, how many other survivors were in the hospital, but he didn't care.

Right now, nothing else mattered.

The corridor led to a pair of swinging doors, which in turn led to a flight of stairs. They passed more soldiers, some of whom saluted and others merely pressed their backs to the walls and pointed, giving Garrus a clear path. The second floor looked more like a hospital rather than a repurposed department store, which is what the building had been before the attack. He saw doctors in surgical scrubs passing each other in the hallway, nurses running with datapads, patients sitting on makeshift benches or sleeping in hallways.

Garrus rounded one final corner before the final person to point for him, a human doctor with a solemn expression on his face, directed him to a room. "Please," the doctor began.

"No." Garrus growled, and he pushed open the door.

The room had white walls and a window. Daylight, what little of it that could filter through the ashes outside, came in and fell across the end of the single bed. The sounds of beeping monitors created a soft background chorus for the scene, little lines dancing back and forth across screens. At least four different IV's ran criss-crossing across the bed and into the arms of the barely recognizable figure lying against the pillows. Burnt, bruised, arms and legs in casts and in splints, a mask over her face pumping oxygen into her lungs, hair half-burned away and eyes closed.

But it was her.

And she was alive.

Garrus stopped next to the bed and stared, unable to speak.

_Shepard. _

The rest of the team had caught up with him and all of them, especially Chakwas, were giving the doctors the third degree. Garrus barely registered the information as the voices echoed from the hallway.

"… her condition?..."

"… stable… lost a lot of blood… multiple fractures… hemorrhaging… collapsed lung…"

"… treatment?"

"… induced coma."

Garrus felt a hand on his shoulder and he glanced over to see Tali standing beside him. He let her guide him over to a chair, which he pulled up next to the bed. Gently, so as not to touch any of the tubes or machinery, Garrus reached out and took the bruised hand that lay on the sheets.

"It was true," Tali said, her voice barely above a whisper. "She survived."

Garrus couldn't think, couldn't speak. All he could do was stare and feel the hand, cold, in his own, and watch her chest barely rise and fall in almost imperceptible breaths.

Garrus saw the rest of the team, as many as the nurses would let past anyway, filter slowly in and line up around the bed. Ashley, sitting directly across from him in front of the window. Joker, sitting on a crate, James and Cortez just beside him. Liara standing at the foot of the bed, one hand resting on the metal frame. Javik leaning against the doorjamb. He still heard Chakwas outside talking with the other doctors, but the words were lost to him then. All he could see was her face.

"They said it was her armor," Liara said, breaking the silence. "The team downstairs. When I asked them how they found her, they said it was something her armor did."

"Her armor?" James asked, leaning forward. "What happened?"

"They received a signal," Liara said. "Said they thought it was a static burst at first, but one of the soldiers on the team, a Quarian engineer, he recognized it. Said it was a binary distress call, a series of ones and zeroes."

"An artificial SOS?" Tali asked.

"Yes," Liara nodded. "They tracked it to the worst of the debris where the Crucible fell and that's where they found her. Barely alive. If they hadn't gotten that message…"

"EDI," Joker said, his voice very quiet. "It was EDI."

"How can you be sure?" Javik asked from the door. "We saw EDI on the ship, the AI fell to pieces after all the Reapers were destroyed, after the Geth ships spiraled out of control."

The rest of the team fell silent. Garrus felt himself talking even though he barely recognized his own voice. "Three years ago," he said. "Luna base. The rogue AI we took out. EDI, before she was EDI. She contacted us, using a binary series, a code."

"Same thing," Joker said, and this time his voice was choked with emotion. "She…" he swallowed. "She made sure someone got Shepard out of there alive. Even if she didn't."

Silence rolled across the group again, and Doctor Chakwas came in and stood next to Liara. "The doctors have no way to tell when she'll wake up," she said. "Or if she ever will. Her life signs are stable and they're giving her the best care they can. All we can do now is wait, wait and help."

The rest of the team slowly filtered out of the room, somber but hopeful, each of them asking the doctor in turn to let them know the second the Commander woke up.

Except Garrus, who stayed seated and kept his hand firmly wrapped around hers.

Tali was the last to leave the room, taking the doctor with her. "I'll keep an eye on him," she said to Chakwas. "He won't be going anywhere."

"Understandable," he heard Chakwas say as the door closed. "Perfectly understandable."

Garrus continued to sit beside her, holding her hand, until the hours melted together. He lost track of time, only leaving the chair next to the bed when dragged by Tali or Liara or when the doctors kicked him out. Even then he remained by the door, sleeping minimally and eating next to nothing of the dextro rations Tali brought for him. He could barely sit still, only felt remotely calm when sitting beside her.

"You don't understand," Garrus growled at one point when Javik and James had to forcibly drag him from the room. "I left her once, I'm never leaving her again."

Time seemed to pass in strange bursts. Sometimes minutes felt like hours, but other times days felt like they were gone in an instant. The rest of the team came in and out over the days, over the weeks, sometimes sitting with Garrus to keep him company, other times taking the chair on the other side of the bed and holding silent vigil with him. Other people, other survivors of the war, came through too – once the _Normandy_ had landed, the news of Commander Kara Shepard's comatose state had spread like wildfire. Garrus saw Wrex, Admiral Hackett, Jack, even Aria T'Loak come through to visit the Commander as the days swam by. Some stayed to try and talk with him, others stayed and spoke with Shepard, wishing her well or whispering quiet thank-yous.

One afternoon a tall woman with greying blonde hair came into the room and sat across the bed from him, and even though the two of them didn't speak, Garrus could see the family resemblance, and he and Hannah Shepard sat and watched over Kara until the sun came up the next day.

She left reluctantly, speaking only as she stopped at the door. "Garrus Vakarian."

Garrus turned his head to her and nodded. He knew he must have looked a disaster, having barely eaten or slept since their arrival, however many days ago it had been. "Yes ma'am."

"Thank you for watching over my daughter," she said. "Call me when she wakes up."

Garrus nodded. "Yes ma'am."

He felt himself almost wanting to laugh. As far as first impressions and meeting the parents went, that had gone much better than he'd anticipated. He only hoped that Kara's meeting of his family would go so well.

He only hoped that she would be awake for it.

Garrus didn't know what everyone else did when they weren't in the room. Presumably they were helping out with the patients in the hospital if they could, going out to hunt for other injured survivors. They came to check in on him, and Shepard of course, but he knew that often they were dropping by just to make sure that he was eating and getting at least some sleep in the chair that had become his home, the room that had become his entire world, where Kara Shepard lay in stasis, and he waited patiently for her to wake up.

It happened the day the sun came out. Garrus had lost all concept of the traditional passage of time by this point, unsure if he had remained at her side for weeks or merely days. He remembered the sun though, the first rays gleaming through the windowpane since the war had ended. The ashes outside were slowly starting to clear, most likely due to a rainstorm the night before. Warm light crept across the room and warmed his hands where they sat, gently resting on Kara's arm. The swelling and bruises around her face had been severely reduced, she was breathing without a tube again, and Garrus had overheard one of the doctors mention something about how fast her bones seemed to be healing. _Must have been the Cerberus technology_, he'd thought to himself. Evil bastards they were, but they had made damned sure their investment was going to survive.

No matter what.

Garrus heard her before he noticed any movement. A soft sigh, a noise of pure exhaustion, came from her lips, and he sat up, almost falling out of his chair.

"Kara," he said, his voice hoarse from lack of use. "Spirits, Kara?"

He gently clasped one of her hands, resisting the urge to squeeze it with all his might. His eyes never left her face, where her lips slowly parted and her eyelids fluttered open. She coughed, a sick, choking noise, and she wheezed a little as she breathed in. Garrus felt her fingers slowly squeeze his.

"G…" her voice was thin and scratchy, and she coughed again. "Garrus?"

"I'm here," he said, leaning over her and gently touching her face with his other hand. "Kara, I'm here."

"Did we…" she coughed again, and this time her eyes opened fully, the same shade of pale blue they had always been. Garrus felt as if he were going to collapse with relief and tears of joy. "Is it… over?"

Garrus leaned forward and rested his forehead against hers. He closed his eyes. "Yes," he said. "The Reapers are dead. Destroyed. Gone. It's over."

He watched as she tried to smile, then winced at the pain in her jaw. She looked up at him and coughed again.

Garrus shook his head. She was indestructible. Back from certain death twice, destroyer of the Reapers, hero to an entire Galaxy.

Commander Kara Shepard.

"I didn't think you'd ever wake up," Garrus whispered, and his eyes blurred with tears.

Kara coughed again and tried to reach up to touch his face, her arms held back by IV tubes. Garrus took her other hand and held it tight, listening intently as she spoke.

"You… you did give me an order," she whispered, and this time she smiled through the pain.

Garrus blinked at her, and this time the tears did fall.

"Come back alive…" he breathed.

As gently as he could, avoiding all of the tubes and the wires, Garrus wrapped his arms around her, and he held her close, and thanked whatever gods were up there that he could do so.

_It'd be an awfully empty galaxy without you… _

Answer: Destroy/Shepard lives, Extended Cut

_I know the destruction of all synthetic life is a terrible burden to live with, but Kara Shepard went into this mess with one goal, and that's how she came out of it: with the Reapers destroyed. And Garrus isn't going to leave her side again if he can help it. This is a very headcanon piece, but that's the way things worked out in Kara's story – the Reapers were destroyed, and somehow, she lived. For me, and for her? That's the perfect ending. _

_ This is my personal Headcanon. You don't have to like it, and I respect the headcanons of others. __  
__  
_


	20. Resurrection

Mass Effect 30 Day Challenge: Day 20

Prompt 20: MaleShep or FemShep? Why?

SPOILERS: Mass Effect 2

**Title: Resurrection **

_Derelict Reaper, Thorne System, 2185 CE_

"This place gives me the creeps," Kasumi muttered as she knelt down and grabbed a pair of thermal clips.

"It's a dead Reaper," Garrus pointed out, catching a clip as she tossed it to him. "Did you think it would give you… what is it Joker calls them? Warm furries?"

"Warm fuzzies," Kara Shepard said, checking her own weapons. "And no, a derelict Reaper definitely would NOT give anyone the warm fuzzies. Hence all these recordings of scientists going crazy." She gestured to one of the consoles against a nearby wall. She shook her head. "The things Cerberus does to their people."

"It is pretty messed up," Kasumi nodded, leaning against the wall as Shepard began bypassing a wallsafe. "They did bring you back all right though Shep."

"And good thing too," Garrus said. "If they'd brought you back wrong…"

Shepard raised an eyebrow. "Like how? Like an undead monstrosity?"

Kasumi shivered. "Ooh, zombies, I hate those. I'm glad you aren't a zombie."

"Zombies aren't real," Garrus gave Kasumi a withering look.

"Husks are plenty real," Shepard replied, connecting the last two pieces of code before the safe swung open. "That's a zombie if I ever saw one."

"Sure," Kasumi nodded, fiddling with one of the consoles. "But they aren't really intent on a hunger for brains, they just want to eat your face."

Garrus shook his head. "Humans," he muttered. "I meant that considering the tech they used, Cerberus probably brought you back from nothing but some moldy bones and random DNA. What if they had screwed it up somehow?"

"You mean, bring her back almost the same but not quite?" Kasumi chimed in, dark eyes glittering. "Tell me Shep, are you behaving in ways that your Old Self would? Or have things changed?"

Shepard smirked. "I AM frequently overcome with the urge to punch a certain Turian in the face. I suppose that's new."

"That's not the only urge you have around me Shepard," Garrus smirked back, holstering his sniper rifle.

"Imagine if they'd just missed one thing," Kasumi mused, deliberately ignoring the blatant flirtation of her teammates. "Like the wrong eye color, or with red hair instead of blonde…" she trailed off, and then laughed. "What if they'd brought you back as a man?"

Shepard grimaced. "That sounds unpleasant," she said, closing the wallsafe and heading for the door in the far wall. They advanced forward, but the hallway was clear of hostiles. "That would just be all kinds of wrong."

"Come on," Garrus said, mirth in his voice. "Human males and females aren't THAT different. You'd still be able to save the galaxy, still throw a mean warp, still headshot a merc from across the room, still wouldn't be able to dance."

Shepard gave Garrus a look. "Would YOU be okay with waking up some day as a Turian Female?"

Garrus chuckled and checked his rifle again as they moved down the hallway. "Fair enough," he said. "Though from what I've seen of your species Shepard, you have far more in common with the men around you than the women."

"That's just a soldier thing," Shepard shrugged, checking her tech armor. "Everyone's bros with everyone. It's part of being a marine."

"So you wouldn't have to change much!" Kasumi pointed out, and Shepard caught sight of a grin under her dark hood. "You could still shoot, still curse, and hey, you'd never have to wear that dress again!"

"I'm still never going to forgive you for that," Shepard growled as the opened up the next door and inspected the next long corridor for hostiles. Still nothing. This really _was_ getting creepy.

"I know that a certain Asari would still have a thing for you regardless of your gender," Garrus said, still smirking.

Kasumi giggled while Shepard rolled her eyes. "Don't remind me," she said. "I love Liara like a sister, but that's it. And she knows it."

"And hates it from the sound of it," Kasumi teased. "Don't they say every species goes for the Asari? Why not Liara, Shep?"

Shepard shrugged and paused just before the next doorway, staring somewhat blankly at the floor. "I guess I wasn't ready to get close to anyone back then," she said. "When I met her, I mean." She glanced over at Garrus, whose smirk had faded. "And by the time things had changed? Well, there was someone else."

"And he would have MANY problems with you coming back from the dead as a man," Garrus said, moving ahead of her and giving the pair a wink. "Sorry Commander. I prefer you as a female."

Shepard laughed and shook her head, pressing the seal on the door ahead to open it. "Believe me," she said. "That makes two of us."

*  
Answer: Femshep

_Mostly a silly little drabblefic, but it's all true. I've pretty much always played as femshep, which makes sense, being female in meatspace and all that, but even with my limited experience with manshep I prefer playing femshep. In my headcanon, it's hard to imagine Shepard as anything but female. Not to mention, how badly do we need more strong female characters in fiction, especially science fiction? SO badly. I love the idea of the added heroism of not just a human saving the galaxy, but a _**female**_ human. _

_Also, Jennifer Hale is an amazing voice actress. _

_Team Femshep all the way.  
_


	21. Over

Mass Effect 30 Day Challenge: Day 21

Prompt 21: Favourite piece of music.

SPOILERS: Mass Effect 3 Extended Cut

**Over**

_The Crucible, 2186 CE_

_Shepard's pistol barked four times as she ran forward. The exposed panels and circuits crackled, sparked and erupted into flames. She did not stop running. She simply tumbled backwards in the wake of the sudden explosion, and the floor beneath her gave way. She let the pistol fall from her hand – _

The Crucible, fully open in a five-pointed star, flashed bright red, a rolling wave of electric crimson flooding out from all of its points, sweeping across the sky and down over the planet below –

_She had always wondered if her life would flash before her eyes this time. The first time she had died there had been nothing but a simple fade to black, maybe this time the vid of her life would have a secret scene at the end of the credits – _

Husks fell like dolls to the ground, the monstrous machines above them doing the same, albeit more slowly. The soldiers, shocked into stillness, stared at the wreckage. As one, they looked up and saw the Crucible and the Citadel, a beam of violent red energy pulsing from its point straight out into the blackness of space –

_It was less of a flash and more of a memory. The day she'd walked into the AI memory core, waving armed guards away, and the ship's AI was suddenly standing before her, EDI was able to stand, had a body, a face capable of giving her a smile or uttering a joke. _

_After everything they had been through, EDI had been just as human as the rest of them. _

_And there had been so much for her to look forward to on the other side of this war._

_Shepard couldn't see anything but blackness. As she plummeted downwards, succumbing to gravity, she felt her hands reach out to the synthetic in her mind. _

_I'm sorry… _

"EDI?"

Joker was focused on trying to get the _Normandy_ out of the range of the pulsing red ray that cut across the blackness of space like a laser, but he heard Liara's cry.

"What's going on?" he called behind him, unable to look. "Liara, what's wrong?"

The Asari fell silent. Joker saw Ashley jump up from the copilot's seat and run behind him. He couldn't turn around, he had to get them out of this, whatever this was, before it was too late…

… _Another vision, this one as painful as the last. Shepard would have preferred the re-run of her life to these specific memories. First EDI, and now this, the love of her life, sitting down on a pile of crates and taking off his helmet, revealing himself to be far more than a vigilante called 'Archangel', standing in the doorway of her cabin with a bottle of cheap wine, sweeping her up in his arms on top of the citadel, promising that if there was a heaven, he would meet her there. _

_She continued to fall. And she hoped that he would live long enough that she'd be waiting for him for a very long time._

_Meet me at the bar… _

"Garrus!" Tali yelled, pounding on the doors of the main battery. "You have to come out! There's something wrong with EDI, and the _Normandy_, she's spinning out of control!"

Silence. Garrus sat within, back resting against the locked doors. He couldn't think, couldn't speak, couldn't breathe without his insides twisting in pain.

He shouldn't have left.

He shouldn't have let her go alone.

He should have been there with her.

He clenched his hands into fists and shut his eyes, refusing to let himself believe, denying the very notion of it.

She's Commander Shepard. She'll survive. She always survives.

Always.

He stared across the main battery at the crate where she had always liked to sit and listen to him tell his stories about the 'old days', and he felt tears begin to fall.

Come back alive…

_She couldn't remember what death was like. She remembered it hurting, and this definitely hurt. She wondered when she'd reach terminal velocity. She wondered why she hadn't hit anything yet. She wondered how she was still capable of wondering. _

_As long as its done…_

Garrus made it up to the cockpit, but only by the time they were on a crash course. The rest of the crew was hunkered down under tables and clinging to bulkheads, and he saw Joker hitting every button on his console he could reach. Just behind him, Ashley and Liara had fallen over sideways, and between them EDI lay, unresponsive, a pile of old circuits and metal.

_As long as the galaxy is safe. _

"Hold on!" Joker yelled behind him. "We're out of control!"

Garrus stumbled and landed beside Liara. He examined the artificial body, trying to ignore the shaking panels above them and the sparks that showered down.

"What's wrong with her?" He yelled over the wail of emergency sirens.

"I don't know!" Liara yelled back. "It's… it's like she's gone!"

_No matter the sacrifice._

The _Normandy_ spiraled across the sky of the lush planet, landing in a series of violent 'thuds', bouncing over hills and crashing into trees. After an age of screeching metal and glass and groaning machinery, she came to a stop.

_Shepard wondered if dying was just falling forever. She'd fallen the first time she'd died too. Then she'd woken up on an operating table. Maybe this time she'd just keep falling. _

The crew shakily got to their feet. Joker checked for broken bones but couldn't feel any right away. "Made it again," he muttered, softly punching the air. "Master pilot, that's me." He slowly got out of his seat and turned around to see if the rest of the crew was all right. He looked down at Liara, Garrus, and Ashley, and his face slowly crumpled.

"…EDI?"

_She couldn't feel anything, not her arms or her legs or her face, but if she could have, she would have smiled. _

_As long as its over._

_Once and for all. _

Answer: An End Once and For All

_This was the first piece of music I heard off the Mass Effect 3 soundtrack. Every time that piano melody plays, I can't help but tear up. Clint Mansell, you're a mad genius. This piece of music is forever haunting me, and so I wrote a scene that takes place right around when the music plays, that could be considered similarly haunting. For maximum feels, listen to 'An End Once And For All' as you read this piece, though be warned, it might result in tears.  
_


	22. Escapism

**Mass Effect 30 Day Challenge: Day 22**

**Prompt 22:** Favourite Book

SPOILERS: Mass Effect 3

**Escapism **

_Normandy SR-2, Shepard's Cabin, en-route to Rannoch, 2186 CE_

"Had enough Commander?" Samantha Traynor gave Shepard a smirk as she moved her queen into a checkmate position on the holographic chess board.

Shepard sighed and leaned backwards on the couch. "In my defense," she said, holding up a hand. "I haven't been sleeping lately."

Traynor nodded. "Of course, that's what it is," she said, a touch of mirth in her voice. She pressed a button to deactivate the chess program. "I won't embarrass you any more then."

"Don't get too cocky," Shepard said to the comm. specialist, standing up and stretching. "I haven't played chess in a while. Give me the chance to warm up and I'll crush you."

"Uh-huh," Traynor chuckled. "I believe you." She picked up her datapad and made to exit Shepard's cabin, but stopped as she passed the desk, a look of surprise on her face. "Commander, I didn't know you collected books."

Shepard followed Traynor up the steps and stood slightly behind the young woman, who was gently picking up one of the old paper volumes she kept next to her computer terminal. "Didn't think I was the type?" She asked, cocking an eyebrow.

Traynor colored slightly. "I didn't mean…" she held the book in her hand as if it were made of solid gold. "I just… most soldiers aren't much for literature Commander."

Shepard shrugged. "At ease, Specialist. Most aren't. But I wasn't always a soldier." She leaned past Traynor and picked up another one of the old volumes, most of them with yellowed pages and cracked spines. "And if you spend enough time around soldiers, you'll find that we like to keep around relics of our past."

Traynor gently opened the book she held and stared at it. "This is an original Heinlein," she said, her brown eyes wide. "From the Twentieth Century. It must be worth a fortune."

She passed the book to Shepard, who studied it with a smile. "And I wouldn't sell it for all the credits in the world," she said. "It's a family heirloom. My Dad gave it to me the day I enlisted, just like his father did to him. The Shepard family has a long line of bookworms."

Traynor laughed. "I honestly never would have guessed!"

"Few would," Shepard shrugged, gently putting the copy of _Starship Troopers_ back on the thin shelf. "But I grew up a Spacer kid. Those first few years on space stations, I was a loner. Only child, awkward, bad with the other kids, and my parents wouldn't let me on the extranet. So I'd read their old books."

"They're certainly old," Traynor shook her head in wonderment, picking up another one of the old volumes. "Most places won't sell paper books anymore."

"Most of them are passed down from family," Shepard said, leaning against her desk and picking up one of the other books. "This one came from my mother."

Traynor took it and studied it. She laughed again. "Shakespeare. Really Commander?"

"I used to hate it when I was in high school," Shepard shrugged. "But I picked it up again after I enlisted. Sometimes when you want to get away from training, the best escapism is in stories of magic and intrigue."

"I can imagine," Traynor murmured, putting the book back on the shelf. She picked up another and gave Shepard an amused look. "_Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban_? You have to be joking."

Shepard smiled, no trace of embarrassment on her face. "Not in the slightest," she said. "I have a complete set of the series. I read them when I was in middle school."

Traynor smiled. "I always figured the great Commander Shepard would be more for reading the old science fiction classics," she said. "Asimov, Heinlein, Philip K. Dick, Vonnegut, books like that."

"Oh I did," Shepard nodded. "But I read a lot, and when you live in space, what's going to be more of an escape? Stories about space or stories about wizards?"

Traynor shrugged. "Understandable." She squinted at row of books. "I thought you said you had the entire set of _Harry Potter_ books? The first two are missing."

Shepard chuckled. "That's because I lent them to Garrus."

Traynor blinked. "And he didn't laugh in your face?"

"Hey, I didn't think he'd like them either," Shepard smiled. "But I gave him the first one a couple of weeks ago, and then he asked for the second one, and he hasn't said anything about it since. Except that he guesses it's all right, for a story about a bunch of adolescent humans who know how to do magic tricks."

"That would explain it," Traynor mused, staring down at the books.

"What?" Shepard asked, tilting her head in confusion.

Traynor giggled. "A few days ago I went down to the Main Battery to drop off some rations – Officer Vakarian requested meals on the job – and when I went in he was reading something, but he hid it under the workbench before I could see it."

Shepard laughed and shook her head. "And people wonder why I love him."

Traynor smiled at the Commander, then reached over and pulled out a slim volume that looked older and more worn than all the others. "What about this one?" she asked.

Shepard's eyes softened as she took it from Traynor. "This one," she said softly. "This one's my favourite."

Traynor cocked her head to study the front cover. She blinked. "_Watership Down_?"

Shepard nodded and gently opened the yellowed volume, scanning the pages without really reading the words. "It was a gift for my tenth birthday. My Dad, he picked it up from a dealer back on Earth when he was away on assignment. After he got back my Mom went out on a six month tour, so every night he'd sit up with me and we'd read it together."

Traynor blinked again. "When you were ten?" she said. "It's really not a children's book."

Shepard smiled and shook her head. "It really isn't," she said. "But my Dad and I were close. He could already tell I wanted to carry on the family profession, even when I was that young. So he found me as many stories as he could about soldiers, even if the soldiers were anthropomorphic rabbits."

Traynor nodded slowly. "I've read it," she said. "But I never would have guessed it was your favourite Commander."

"Few would," Shepard shrugged again. She opened the front cover and looked at the faint pen markings scrawled across the title page. "But it has been for years."

Traynor leaned over the Commander's shoulder again. "'To Kara,'" she read the inscription. "'Something to read together. Happy Birthday. I love you. Dad.'"

Shepard closed the book and gently returned it to the shelf. "My Dad taught me a lot about being a leader," she said. "And a lot of it came from books. That book?" she pointed at the crumbling volume with the rabbit on the cover. "That was the last book we read together before he died."

Traynor stood awkwardly next to the desk. "I'm sorry Commander," she said.

Shepard waved a hand. "It was a long time ago," she said. "Right after Akuze. I went home for some shore leave and he suggested we read it again, for old time's sake, while I was there to visit. Even over a decade later, it was just as good, meant just as much." Her eyes hardened and she looked away from the small collection of books. "He passed away two months after I went back for my next assignment. I read the book every year on his birthday. At least I try to."

Traynor continued to stand awkwardly. She was at a loss for words.

Shepard leaned against her desk again and stared blankly at her fish tank. "Loyalty. Honesty. Friendship. Honor. Perseverance. Survival." She shook her head and smiled sadly. "I know it's just a silly book about rabbits in the end, but _Watership Down_ taught me more about life than anything else I've ever done, seen or read." She sighed and sat down at her desk, picking the book up again. "It's a comfort, especially now."

Traynor nodded again. The Commander opened the book and looked down at the inscription, and the comm. specialist decided it would be best to take her leave.

"Thank you Commander," she said, saluting. "Let me know if you ever want a rematch."

"Of course," Shepard said without looking up. As Traynor left the Commander's cabin, she saw Shepard smile sadly again and, gently turning to the first page, begin to read.

Answer:_ Watership Down_ by Richard Adams

_Credit to my boyfriend Jeff for helping me brainstorm books that Kara Shepard would potentially consider her favourites. And credit to my friend Caitlin for the Garrus reading Harry Potter idea. It was too amusing not to put in. Hopefully he'll stay off the extranet, I don't think he's ready to know what Shipping is. _

_I know the prompt is technically for favourite book in the series, but since we're kind of bending the rules in this fanfic interpretation of the challenge, I thought writing about Shep's books would be far more interesting, especially since she shares my love of dusty old tomes and books as mementos. _


	23. Vigilante

**Mass Effect 30 Day Challenge: Day 23**

Prompt 23: If one of the companions got a spin-off game. Which would you like it to be?

SPOILERS: Mass Effect 2

**Vigilante**

_Omega, 2184 CE_

The car pulled up next to the recently demolished building and Captain Gavorn climbed out, wasting no time and crossing the street to address the Turian officer blocking access to the entrance.

"What is it this time?" he asked, pulling out his sniper rifle. "If it's more Vorcha I'm putting my boot up someone's ass."

The young officer grimaced. "As long as the ass isn't mine sir," he said. "But the Vorcha aren't the problem."

Gavorn gave the officer a look. "Since when are Vorcha ever anything but a problem?"

The officer scratched the back of his neck awkwardly. "Well… since they're all dead sir."

"What?" Gavorn stepped past the officer to push open the door of the old apartment building. "Why are you calling me down here over a bunch of dead Vorcha?"

The officer made another face. "It's… it's who killed them, boss."

"I don't have time to dick around," Gavorn growled. He opened the door. "Where'd all this go down?"

"Lobby," the officer said, pointing inside. "It's a mess in there sir."

Gavorn stepped into the dark building and flipped on the light attachment on his rifle. He swore. "What in the hell?"

There had to be at least twenty dead Blood Pack mercs, each one sprawled across the now blood-soaked carpet of the apartment lobby. The room stank of Vorcha and Gavorn covered his mouth to avoid breathing it in. He turned back to the officer at the door. "When did this happen?"

"I called you as soon as the screaming stopped sir," the officer replied. "I heard the Vorcha in the building, but they were dead by the time I got here."

"Hmm," Gavorn knelt down next to the nearest body and examined it. "A perfect headshot," he said, taking the Vorcha by the face and turning its head left and right. "Right between the eyes."

"So it's him again sir?" the officer asked nervously.

Gavorn stood up and scanned the rest of the room. Plenty of dark corners, overhangs, little balconies. Each a perfect spot for a sniper to take out mercenaries like they were sitting ducks.

He shook his head and out and back onto the street. "Has to be. Get someone in here to clear out these bodies before they start to stink any…"

He trailed off as he noticed the stark white graffiti emblazoned on the wall across the street. Simple words, each letter at least two meters high.

_UNDER THE PROTECTION OF ARCHANGEL._

Gavorn shook his head again, then turned back to his car. "Aria's not going to like this," he said. "Looks like we really do have a vigilante on our hands."

Answer: Garrus Vakarian

_Like you guys didn't see that one coming. Just a short little drabble today, but seriously, if anyone deserves an awesome spinoff, it's the most badass character in the series. Also, Garrus is the Dark Knight of Omega._

_Also I'm a fangirl. Judge if you like, but he's awesome. A game that's nothing but Garrus killing shit on Omega would make me ridiculously happy. _


	24. Warrior

30 Day Mass Effect Challenge: Day 24

Prompt 24: Favourite Class (soldier, vanguard, etc.)

SPOILERS: Mass Effect 3

Warrior

_London, Thanix Missile Trucks, 2186 CE_

Kara Shepard threw herself behind the fallen remains of a red phone box and gasped for breath as the brute's hideous claws slashed the air where she had just been standing. The creature snarled at her and backed up for another charge, but she swung her particle rifle around and sent a beam of pulsing energy into its eyes.

"Garrus!" she yelled. "Little help!"

"Little busy!" he yelled back from his current vantage point, crouching at the windowsill of a decimated shop. "Two more on your six!" A burst of gunfire echoed behind her and she heard another brute growling.

"Shit," she muttered. Flinging a biotic warp at the brute in front of her, she saw Liara just beyond the missile truck to her left, doing the same.

The brute let out a sick gurgle and slumped to the ground. Liara came running, dropping a singularity behind her to pick up what looked like a small army of cannibals on her heels. "More brutes!" Liara called.

"How many ARE there?" Shepard gasped, throwing another warp, this time at the singularity, causing it to detonate and send reaper minions flying across the battlefield. Still more came running up behind them, leaping over the bodies of their fallen comrades and firing shots at her.

"Ungh," she heard Garrus grunt behind her. She turned quickly to see one of the brutes slam him against the wall of the destroyed shop, his rifle flying out of his hand.

Shepard saw red. She felt the first of the abominable husk creatures claw at her arms and she slapped her hand against her omnitool, detonating her tech armor in a violent blast that knocked every creature in her radius to the ground. She swung her fist down and the omni-blade slid through the cannibal's eyes and then she was charging across the battlefield, flinging another warp at the brute. "Hey, FUCKER."

The warp hit the brute in the back and it whirled, growling and flinging Garrus to one side as if he were made of straw. Shepard hit it with a burst of particle rifle fire before throwing another warp, and as it charged towards her she jumped to the side, letting it careen past her and crash into the missile truck. She spun around and activated her tech armor again, waiting a few moments to summon up another biotic attack. The brute growled at her and she grinned mirthlessly back at it, baring her teeth in a snarl.

"_Get. Away. From. My. Boyfriend_." she growled.

The brute charged and Shepard flung another warp at it, then assailing it with particle rifle fire as it crashed into her, knocking her back into the damaged shop and into a shelving unit. She groaned, tasting blood in her mouth, but to her left she saw Garrus getting to his feet, swinging around and hitting the beast with an overload attack. He gave her his best lopsided grin and ducked behind a shelf as the brute turned towards him once more.

"No you fucking don't!" Shepard yelled, activating her own overload attack, causing the brute to flinch and stumble forward. Running across the remains of the shop, Shepard activated her omniblade again and ran up the creature's heaving back, throwing all of her weight into her right arm. With a yell, she swung her arm down and drove the blade into the beast's brain, causing it to shudder and then fall still.

Shepard jumped off of the beast and deactivated her blade, grabbing Garrus's hand and helping him to his feet. They exchanged a short look, one that spoke volumes.

_You're not allowed to fucking die on me Vakarian. _Her pale blue eyes flashed.

_Not a chance Commander,_ his eyes seemed to say back. _Not a damn chance._

They both went for thermal clips in the shelving unit along the wall, knowing they weren't out of the woods yet.

"More on the way!" Shepard heard Liara yell. She was up near the second missile truck now, holding off another wave of cannibals and husks with a singularity and the fire of her machine pistol.

Shepard and Garrus both vaulted over the windowsill and saw three more brutes lumbering towards them. They exchanged another look, this one less serious but just as intense.

"Shall we?" Shepard asked, giving him a grin.

Garrus grinned back, reloading his assault rifle. "Let's give 'em hell."

Shepard turned back and stared down the beasts, preparing another warp in her hand. They just had to hold out a little longer.

_I won't let them win this war. _

"You hear that Harbinger?" She yelled to the sky, adrenalin and bloodlust fueling her words. "This is MY home! I am the sentinel of this galaxy, and so help me, I will protect it until every last one of you is fucking DEAD."

As if hearing her violent yells, the Reaper blocking the conduit shot a bolt of energy in her direction, which she barely dodged.

"Shepard!" Garrus yelled, ducking out of the way of another brute's claws.

The Commander flung her warp at the brute and then charged forward, her particle rifle on full burst.

_This is our home. _

_I already died once to protect it. _

_I am the sentinel._

_You WILL not win. _

Answer: Sentinel

_I know Sentinel isn't necessarily the prime fighting class, and honestly I think I have a little more fun playing Vanguard or Adept in things like multiplayer but, I played through all 3 ME games with Kara as a Sentinel, and this is how she would fight this battle. Protecting the galaxy no matter how many damned brutes she has to cut through to keep it safe._

_Seriously though, brutes? Suck. Fuck those guys. _


	25. Hammers

**Mass Effect 30 Day Challenge: Day 25**

**Prompt 25:** Favourite boss fight

SPOILERS: Mass Effect 3

**Hammers **

_Tuchanka, the Shroud, 2186 CE_

Shepard flung one final warp at the cannibal, which collapsed next to the crumbling stairs of the ancient Krogan city. At least half a dozen more were still swarming towards them. Over her comm. she heard Wrex:

"_Shepard, I took care of the Rachni, but someone has to raise those maw hammers before we can use them."_

Shepard gritted her teeth and kicked one of the husks away from her legs. "We're kind of busy Wrex!" she yelled after stomping the creature's face until it lay still.

"_Hah," _she heard the old Krogan chuckle._ "Lucky for you I'm here. I'll take care of it."_

Shepard threw another warp towards the singularity where a pair of cannibals floated dazedly, the biotic explosion throwing them across the derelict courtyard.

"Let's go," Shepard said, pointing Liara and Garrus towards a crumbling staircase. They raced up it, stopping only to fill up on thermal clips. The stairs led to a room that curved around and let out on the bridge that had been between them and the Shroud minutes before. It looked like the easiest route down would be to cross it.

For a given value of easy. Shepard saw more cannibals below them.

Her comm. crackled again. _"Shepard."_ It was Mordin_. "Some luck, original strain in storage. Preparing the cure now."_

"Make it quick Mordin," she replied, heading out across the bridge, dodging gunfire from the cannibals down below. "They're all over us out here."

"To the left!" Liara shrieked, and Shepard turned as the Reaper let out a hideous rumbling growl and its eye began to glow red.

"MOVE!" Shepard yelled, stumbling backwards as the massive red laser slashed inches in front of her face, cutting through the stone bridge they stood on like butter. "Shit!"

The three of them fell along with the rubble, the cannibals getting crushed below them. Shepard's shields went out but her tech armor was still up, so she rolled to her feet and dusted off her pistol. Next to her Garrus clambered out of a pile of rubble and Liara stumbled down from her landing spot.

"Everyone all right?" Shepard asked, even though it felt like a stupid question. She began to move forward towards the Shroud again.

"Fine," Liara said, her voice cracking. "Fine!"

"Me too," Garrus agreed as the two of them fell in behind her. He was silent for a moment, then Shepard heard him say "Did we just get shot by a Reaper?"

For some reason his question made her want to laugh hysterically. She swallowed and reloaded her submachine gun. "Consider it practice!" she called back to him.

They crossed under an archway and out onto another, much larger ancient courtyard. Wrex's voice echoed in Shepard's ear again:

"_Okay, I raised the hammers. You have to activate both of them. My advice is to avoid the giant laser."_

The Reaper growled again up above them. Behind her Shepard heard Liara gasp. "He has GOT to be joking," she said.

"Just keep moving," Shepard yelled. She rolled out of the way as the Reaper shot another red laser in their direction. "Stick to cover!"

"I don't think cover's going to cut it!" Garrus called back, flinging himself behind a jutting piece of rock as the laser cut across the center of the courtyard.

Shepard pushed forward again, her team still behind her. "Come on!"

"Goddess," Liara said, panting. "We're really doing this!"

"Don't stop!" Shepard yelled back.

"It's coming around!" Garrus yelled, pointing as the Reaper swung towards them and growled again, its eye glowing red once more.

"Craaaap," Shepard said as she ran for cover. They were completely exposed; they wouldn't make it to any cover in time.

The sound of fighter crafts zipping overhead distracted her and Shepard looked up. Her comm. crackled once more, and an unfamiliar Turian voice greeted her:

"Commander, this is Artimec Wing. We'll try and give that Reaper something else to shoot at."

The three of them stared as the Turian fighter ships flew overhead and began firing at the metal monstrosity, which rumbled again, distracted by the little crafts like a horse being besieged by flies.

"I knew they wouldn't give up," Garrus said, and Shepard knew he was smiling underneath his helmet.

"Go," Shepard called to her team. "Let's push ahead."

They ran under still more crumbling arches until Shepard heard Liara yell "To the left! It's one of the hammers!"

No sooner had the words left her mouth than a meteoric blast impacted just in front of them, and Shepard found herself standing in front of two hideous scaly monsters.

"Shit!" she yelled. "Brutes!"

The three of them flung themselves out of the way as the first Brute charged, Garrus immediately turning to hit it, assault rifle blazing. He was laughing hysterically. "This is crazy!"

Shepard couldn't agree more. She and Liara threw warps at the first brute while dodging the second, and as they bobbed and weaved, suddenly one of the Reaper's massive tripod feet crashed down in front of them, narrowly missing them.

"Shit!" Shepard yelled again. She looked to the left and could see the little stone pedestal that would activate the first hammer. "I'm going for it!"

She charged across the courtyard as fast as she could, dodging out of the way of two more brutes that landed in front of her. A short flight of steps led up to the pedestal, but before Shepard could make her mad dash, the Reaper's tripod leg smashed down again, almost crushing her. "Goddamnit!" she yelled, throwing herself backwards, then dashing forward again as the mechanical monster raised its foot up again. _Come on Kara_, she berated herself. _Come on_.

She reached the pedestal, out of breath and gasping. She slammed against the activation button and felt it depress into the rest of the stone and turn. She smiled madly. _One down._

"Mordin," she contacted the Salarian over her comm. as she ran back towards the brutes, knowing Garrus and Liara couldn't take them on all by themselves. "We hit the first hammer, how's it coming?"

"_Almost have cure," he replied. "Eve's vital signs dropping, trying to compensate!"_

"Shepard!" Garrus yelled as she dashed over to where he stood, holding off a brute with his rifle. "The second hammer's on the other side!"

_Here goes nothing._ Shepard gritted her teeth again and hit the brute nearest to her team with a warp before running full tilt across the courtyard towards another set of stairs. The Reaper slammed its foot down next to her again, missing her by inches.

"_Shepard!" _Wrex yelled over the comm. _"Get that second hammer going!"_

Shepard rolled to the side and climbed the stairs. "THERE'S A REAPER IN MY WAY, WREX!" she yelled as the foot flew up and then slammed down in front of her again.

"_I know!"_ the Krogan yelled back._ "You have all the fun."_

Promising to herself that she wouldn't headbutt the old man once she got done with this insane suicide mission, Shepard charged towards the second pedestal and shoved at the jutting piece of carved stone that would activate the second hammer. The rock slid into the stone and turned, and Shepard heard two loud thuds in short succession, each causing the ground below her to shake and rumble violently.

She ran back towards the courtyard. All the brutes were dead, and the Reaper had turned away from them, letting out another low vibrating growl and focused on the source of the violently shaking earth. As Shepard watched from the crumbling balcony, she saw the biggest thresher maw she'd ever laid eyes on shoot out of the ground and wrap itself around the Reaper. Both let out hideous shrieks as the maw, Kalros, the mother of all thresher maws, dragged the Reaper towards the ruined city on which they stood.

She threw herself to one side and felt the entire building jerk beneath her at the impact, and she clung to a broken stone balcony as, above her, the Reaper and Kalros wrestled in the dust of Tuchanka.

"Holy shit," Shepard breathed. "Holy, fucking, shit."

Nobody was going to believe this. Not in a million years.

Answer: Kalros and the Reaper, Priority: Tuchanka

_I love this boss fight first and foremost for the dialogue between Shepard and Wrex, but also because there really is nothing more epic than watching that maw take down the Reaper. Kara may hate thresher maws, but she has respect for this one. _


	26. Trust

**Mass Effect 30 Day Challenge: Day 26**

**Prompt 26:** Least Favourite Companion

SPOILERS: Mass Effect 2

**Trust **

_Normandy SR-2, en route to Aeia, Alpha Draconis System, 2185 CE_

"Commander? You in here?" Garrus stepped into the Port Observation lounge and cast his gaze around the room, which looked completely deserted.

"Hng?" He heard a groan, shortly followed by a giggle, from behind the bar and stepped around the comfortable couches to see Kasumi sitting next to Kara Shepard on the other side of the counter, leaning against the wall, both with drinks in their hands. Shepard looked up at him and grinned. "Hi Garrus," she slurred.

Garrus blinked down at the two of them and gave the thief an appraising look. "What's this then?"

Kasumi shrugged and stood up, looking a lot less drunk than her companion. "Nothin' special, Vakarian," she said, hopping over the counter. "Shep was feeling a bit… irritable… after our last mission. So I offered to cheer her up with one of my special concoctions!"

Shepard slowly dragged herself to her feet, clinging to the counter like a liferaft. "… What was in that drink?" she asked Kasumi blearily.

"Apples," Kasumi smiled back at them. Garrus helped Shepard get steady on her feet. "Mostly apples." She opened the door and gave Garrus a wave. "I'm going to go get something to eat in the mess. I'll be back in a bit."

"Wait-" Garrus blinked and stumbled as Kara leaned against him. The door slid closed. "Damnit Goto," he said to himself. All he had come looking for was a report on the Thanix Cannon upgrades, and now he was babysitting his drunk commanding officer.

Again.

"Come on," he said, gently maneuvering her to a spot on one of the couches. She wasn't as drunk as usual – hell, by her standards she was only just tipsy – but she still gave him her drunk smile and giggled. He rolled his eyes. "What sorrows are you drowning today Shepard?" he asked, sitting down next to her.

Shepard shrugged. "That 'abandoned' Collector ship wasn't exactly a picnic, Vakarian," she said, making air-quotes. "If I ever have to fight another one of those Praetorians…" she shook her head and lifted her hand to her mouth, frowning in puzzlement. "Where's m'drink?"

"Kasumi took it," Garrus lied.

"Damnit." Shepard leaned back and sighed, staring at the ceiling. "I just can't believe it," she said softly. "Fucking Illusive Man and his bullshit.

Garrus sighed also, understanding her frustration. "I don't like it either," he said. "But Cerberus is our best hope at stopping the Collectors, and the Reapers."

"I know," Shepard shook her head and lifted her head up, glaring at nothing in particular. "I just don't see how we can do that when we can't trust this guy to be honest with us. When we can't trust his people."

"You don't trust Jacob and Miranda?" Garrus looked surprised. After everything Shepard had done for Miranda on Ilium, helping her sister, and considering they were on their way to investigate the disappearance of Jacob's father, he found it hard to believe that she didn't at least trust them a little.

Shepard snorted. "Yeah right," she said. "About as far as I can throw them. Miranda's just so…" she wrinkled her nose.

Garrus smirked. "Perfect?"

Shepard slumped down in her seat and did a convincing imitation of Jack's voice. "Cerberus Cheerleader." She shook her head. "She reminds me of all the girls I went to high school with."

"Jacob's trustworthy enough," Garrus said, shrugging, deciding not to press the topic of high school. Humans always seemed to get stuck on it somehow. "He's a team player, he's solid, good with biotics."

Shepard shook her head. "Compared to the other people I have on this team? I'd pick you or Tali or even Jack or Kasumi over Jacob on a mission. Plus," she looked over at Garrus very seriously. "His teeth are too straight. They creep me out."

Garrus laughed. "Now you're just making things up."

She shrugged again. "Whatever," she said. "I don't like 'em."

Garrus gave her a look. "You don't have to like them, Shepard," he said. "But they are part of the team. Cerberus or not, you should give them a chance."

Shepard wrinkled her nose and slumped a little further in her seat, saying nothing.

Garrus leaned back in his own seat and looked out through the main observation window, watching the stars go by. He laughed.

"What?" Shepard leaned forward, looking out the window. "What's funny?"

Garrus smiled. "I remember another pair of human crewmates you had some trouble getting along with."

"Hm?" Shepard looked at him. "What do you mean?"

He continued staring out the window. "A certain gunnery chief we ran into on Horizon?" he mused. "And a Biotic Lieutenant?"

Shepard seemed to sober slightly. She sighed and scratched her head awkwardly. "I guess I was kind of like that about Ash and Kaidan, huh?"

Garrus chuckled. "Half the time you were in the Mako with me and someone else who wasn't one of them you'd complain about Ashley's bigotry or Kaidan's awkwardness."

Shepard sighed again. "And then Kaidan gave his life for the lot of us on Virmire."

They sat in silence for a while, both looking out the window at the stars. Garrus spoke after a moment. "You trusted him when it came down to the wire, right?"

"Of course," Shepard said, slightly indignant. "I wouldn't have had him setting up a bomb if I didn't!"

"And you trusted Ash too," Garrus pressed.

Shepard leaned back, still staring out the window. "Get to your point Vakarian," she grumbled.

"My point is," Garrus said, standing up and crossing the room to the refrigeration unit under the bar. "You didn't trust them at first either. But they proved themselves." He took two beers out of the unit, one with a bright blue 'DEXTRO' label on it, and crossed back to Shepard, handing her a beer. "Now, I'm not saying Lawson and Taylor hold a candle to Williams or Alenko, I'm saying that you shouldn't be afraid to give them a chance. They might surprise you."

Shepard opened her beer and gave him a look. "When did you get all wise and full of advice to give?"

Garrus shrugged. "hey, I just came in here to ask about that Thanix Cannon upgrade, I wasn't intending to give you sage wisdom. Sometimes that just happens when you come looking for your drunk commanding officer."

"Hey," Shepard attempted to give him a stern look. "I am NOT drunk."

"Uh-huh," Garrus smirked, opening his own beer. He held it up next to hers. "Here's to old friends," he said. "And people you can trust."

Shepard clinked her beer against his and took a long swig of it. Then she spoke again. "Here's to you," she nodded at Garrus, smiling. "You're people I can trust."

Garrus smiled and had a sip of his own beer. "I appreciate that Commander," he said. "And for the sake of team morale at least, giving Lawson and Taylor a chance would be appreciated too."

"I'm doing my best," Shepard grumbled. They sat together a little longer, drinking their beer. "But still," she said eventually. "His teeth are really creepy."

Garrus laughed. "You think so?"

"Seriously," Shepard shook her head and shuddered. "It's like they're in my dreams, following me…"

Answer: Miranda Lawson and Jacob Taylor

_For me it really is a matter of least favourite as opposed to characters that I dislike. I can't think of a single squadmate in all 3 games I actively dislike. Of all of them, there are some I prefer and find less interesting, and ultimately of all of them, Miranda and Jacob are far less interesting to me compared to the other squadmates. So consider this drabble just an excuse for me to write a little more drunk!shep and for Garrus to give her some food for thought._

_For the curious, Kasumi IS making a Pratchett's Discworld Nanny Ogg reference when she says 'mostly apples', and the last line is a reference to a Hold Steady song called 'Teeth Dreams'. _


	27. Necessary

Mass Effect 30 Day Challenge: Day 27

Prompt 27: Opinions on the Genophage

SPOILERS: Mass Effect 3

Necessary

_Normandy SR-2, Orbiting Tuchanka, 2186 CE_

The comm. link went dead and Shepard stared blankly at the space where the Dalatrass had floated mere seconds before. Her mind spun and she gripped the metal bar in front of her, shaking her head.

_We've come so far,_ she thought to herself. _We're hours away from an actual cure for the Genophage, and the Salarians want me to lie to the Krogan? Pretend to disperse the cure? Convince Mordin to go against everything I've said to him for the last year? _

_What the actual fuck?_

Her thoughts were interrupted by Wrex pinging her over the comm. "Shepard?"

She shook her head again, more violently this time, and coughed, opening the channel. "I'm here Wrex," she said. "What's the word?"

"Shuttle's almost ready," he said. "I'm heading down to the bay with EDI and the Pyjak. Get your team and let's get to it."

"Roger that," Shepard said, signing off. She crossed through the command center and the security checkpoint, tuning out the chatter of the two guards, and headed for the Elevator. "Traynor," she called over her shoulder. "Tell Liara to meet me down in the shuttle bay. It's time to cure the Genophage."

"Will do ma'am," Samantha Traynor said as the elevator doors opened. Shepard turned to see her glancing over her shoulder from her console. "Anyone else you need me to get?"

"I'm going to get Garrus," she said, holding out a hand. "Just Liara."

"Yes ma'am," Traynor turned back to her console and the doors slid closed. Shepard leaned back against the elevator's wall and stared at the doors just as blankly as before. Part of her was furious, the rest of her unable to feel anything at all. The Salarians weren't exactly private about their tendencies toward underhanded tactics, but this? Shepard shook her head again. This was just too much.

The elevator doors slid open and Shepard headed for the Main Battery, passing Liara, who waved and said 'I'll see you in the shuttle Commander'. Shepard waved back, but crossed the mess quickly, trying to keep herself calm until she made it to her destination.

"Commander," Garrus said, turning away from his console to look at her. "Something wrong?"

Shepard stepped into the Main Battery and waited for the doors to close behind her. She stepped forward and leaned against one of the railings that looked over the cannons. She sighed. "No," she shook her head. "We're gearing up to head to the Shroud. Wanted to come get you, make sure you were up for another round on Tuchanka."

Garrus shut down one of the consoles he was working on and nodded. "Always, Shepard," he said. He looked up and studied her, and she averted her gaze so that he couldn't look into her eyes. She heard him grumble with concern. "Is that all?"

She dragged her gaze back to him slowly, wanting to burst out in a rant, something that would probably start along the lines of 'you would NOT believe what the Dalatrass just tried to pull!', but instead she just swallowed and crossed her arms, leaning against the railing in silence for a long moment.

"Do you think we're doing the right thing?" she asked finally.

Garrus blinked. "Helping the Krogan?" he asked. "If it helps Palaven, you know I'm on board with it. Earth too."

"I don't mean that," she shook her head. "The Genophage. Do you think curing it is the right thing to do?"

Garrus crossed the room and came to stand in front of her, gently taking one of her hands. He looked down into her eyes, looking concerned but mostly curious. "Having a change of heart Shepard?" he asked. "You've been against the idea of the Genophage since the beginning. What's got you going all ethical quandary over this?"

Shepard squeezed his hand. "I don't know," she said. "I guess I'm just trying to understand it. How someone can think that the Genophage was the right call to make."

"It's not that hard," Garrus mused. "I'm not completely against it being implemented in the first place."

Shepard nodded, still looking up at him. "You've mentioned that before," she said. "But you think what we're doing is the right call now?"

Garrus shrugged. "Kara," he said, taking her other hand. "The original Genophage was released centuries ago. The Krogan were hellbent on taking as much of the galaxy as they could for themselves, and breeding faster than their planets could handle the population growth. That was a different time. Now," he broke his gaze with her and turned to look at one of his consoles. "Things aren't just different, they're worse. We can't do this without the Krogan, and the Krogan aren't exactly making plans to overthrow every other sentient race when the Reapers are gone."

"They know fighting the Reapers means we need to stand together," she murmured, looking down at his hands.

Garrus lifted one hand and used a single claw to lift her chin, looking her in the eyes again. "What was necessary for our ancestors isn't always necessary for us," he said. "The Reapers aren't just here for the Turians, the Humans, the Salarians. The Reapers are here for all of us, and we're all going to be wiped out if we don't unite. So I don't know about you, but I'm willing to do whatever it takes to make that happen." He gave her one of his rogueish smiles and Kara Shepard felt her stomach do a little flip-flop. "I'm behind you until the end Kara, but I think whatever they did in the past, whatever was necessary? This is necessary now, and it's not just that, it's also right."

Kara smiled and leaned forward, gently touching her forehead to his. She stayed that way for a moment, the squeezed his hands one final time before letting go. "Thanks Garrus," she said, stepping back. "I know all of that. Guess I just needed to hear it from someone I trust."

Garrus smiled. "I'm glad I can be your wise counsel," he said. "Now come on," he turned towards the doors as the rest of his consoles and monitors went dark. "Never thought I'd say it, but let's go cure the Genophage."

Kara remained on her face as the two of them left the Main Battery. They crossed the mess hall and entered the elevator side-by-side, and she felt determination grip her mind.

_Fuck the Dalatrass. Let's go give the Krogan what's necessary. And what's right. _

Answer: The cure is worth the risks

_I've always been in the 'fuck the genophage' camp, even when playing renegade characters, but Kara especially isn't a fan of such a messed up thing. Since Wrex told her all the details, a small part of her had hoped she could have some part in fixing the Genophage and helping the Krogan. But even when you're sure of something, sometimes you just need to hear it from someone else before you can really go forward with a plan. For Shepard, the person she always goes to is Garrus. In a situation like this, he'd be the first person she goes to. _


	28. Ultimatum

**Mass Effect 30 Day Challenge: Day 28**

**Prompt 28:** Opinions on the Reapers

SPOILERS: Mass Effect 3 Extended Cut

**Ultimatum**

_The Crucible, 2186 CE _

Three different colours: red, green, and blue. The ghostly child-avatar of the Catalyst standing in front of her, its last words hanging over her head, a dire ultimatum.

_The paths are open, but you have to choose. _

Kara Shepard stared at the three paths in front of her, trying to get everything straight in her head. Control the Reapers, stop the destruction, fly them into a sun, whatever she wanted. Join all synthetic and organic life together, create a new DNA and break the cycle. Or Destroy. All synthetic life, wiped out, the Reapers gone forever, as well as the Geth, as well as EDI.

She coughed, and tasted blood.

This wasn't a decision for her to make – something this huge should be decided by vote, or by committee, people should have a say in whether or not the entire universe is rewritten, or if synthetics should die, or if a single person should have ultimate control over an unstoppable army of machines.

She took a deep breath, then groaned as she felt what had to be her entire ribcage screaming in protest.

She looked at the options, and remembered the child's other ultimatum, the sacrifice she had to make.

She swallowed and felt a few of her teeth dislodge.

So this was it. Death. The big sleep. The last hurrah. The End, written in capital letters and underlined in permanent ink.

Whatever she chose, each of these three options meant her death.

She gritted her teeth. Her mind cast back to the first time she saw Sovereign on Eden Prime. Saren and his Geth. The colonist becoming liquefied on the Collector Ship, more food for the Human Reaper. The Illusive Man's indoctrination. Earth burning. Watching the shuttle that held the child whose face the Catalyst wore like a coat get sawed in half by a laser.

Anderson, sitting down next to her just minutes ago, and not getting back up. Legion, giving his life to end a war that had lasted hundreds of years, in the hopes of stopping a much worse enemy. Thane, his prayer for her ringing in her ears as he breathed his last. Mordin, riding up the elevator, because someone else might have gotten it wrong. Kaidan, left behind on Virmire.

So many lost, fighting this desperate war. So many gone.

Kara Shepard began to move forward, every step sending pain through every nerve in her body. She clutched the pistol in her hand like it was a lifeline, guiding her forwards, and she stood between all three choices, stopping once again.

Years. Three years, and it came down to this. Three choices and three different colours and three was to change the course of history.

All down to her.

Kara thought about Earth, below her and in flames. Palaven, burning, as they watched it from the moon. Thessia, decimated. The Citadel now nothing more than a tool instead of the pinnacle of civilization it had once been.

She took a sharp turn to the right. Everything in front of her glowed bright red, and she took some more shuffling steps forward.

Three years. So many lost. Hell, even she had died once. Not like this. Her first death had been the result of a leaky oxygen tank. This was, what the warriors of old would call, a good death. A noble sacrifice. A worthy cause.

Kara Shepard shuffled forward again, her resolve firm.

This must end.

She hadn't given up her life once, and given every breath of her new existence, for anything but an End. Anything but the destruction. The cost had already been so high, and it would be high no matter what.

Nothing was going to change her mind. Nothing ever would. The End, once and for all, that she set out to do three years ago.

Destroy the Reapers. Whatever it took.

Even the loss.

_I'm sorry EDI,_ she thought, then fired three shots at the panel. She gritted her teeth as Garrus's words echoed in her mind.

_Come back alive. _

Kara Shepard planted her feet firmly on the ground beneath her, and fired one final shot into the panel. Her own ultimatum. Her promise to try.

It wasn't the first time she'd gone up against certain death, after all.

And here, at the end of all things, she would not give up.

The panel exploded, and everything flashed red.

Answer: Destroy them, no matter what the cost

_Yeah, we're not Reaper Fans here at Kara's Stories. Kara fully expects death to get her this time, but she has what some refer to as a bullheaded stubbornness about her, and when Garrus Vakarian tells you to come back alive, even in the face of certain death, you never give up. _


	29. History

Mass Effect 30 Day Challenge: Day 29

Prompt 29: What made you first want to play Mass Effect?

SPOILERS: Mass Effect 2

History

_Normandy SR-2, En route to the Citadel from Omega, 2185 2CE_

"Commander," Joker said as Kara Shepard sat down at the empty console next to his in the cockpit. "Having trouble sleeping again?"

"Some things never change," Shepard said, leaning back in the chair and watching the rush of stars through the viewing port. "I might have died, but I'm still me."

"Even the parts of you that sucked?" Joker asked, raising an eyebrow. "I mean, don't you wish they'd fixed the part in your brain where you never sleep?"

Shepard laughed. "Hell no," she said. "I mean, it'd be nice to sleep every now and then, but if I got a regular eight hours every day cycle, I just wouldn't be me anymore, you know what I'm saying?"

Joker nodded. "Small price to pay for being brought back to life, right?"

Shepard nodded back, gently massaging the side of her jaw. Her cheek still glowed a dull red through the scars that remained from the surgery to implant her cybernetics. Joker didn't want to admit it, but they were pretty creepy. "How are things going up here?"

"Nothing new," he replied, glaring over at EDI, who had remained silent during their conversation. "Using the mute button. It's nice to only hear the sound of my own voice for a change."

"Just make sure you let her talk when there's something important to do," Shepard replied.

"It's only important if we're being chased down by Collectors or shooting things," Joker said irritably. "This little pleasure cruise? Not a chance."

Shepard smiled and shook her head. "How far out's the citadel?" she asked.

"Another four hours I think," Joker said, checking his monitors. "Plenty of time to watch a couple old vids and beat myself at solitaire again."

"Old vids?" Shepard asked, intrigued. "What're you watching?"

Joker's cheeks coloured a little. "Well…" he said. "Today's the anniversary of the day I decided to be a pilot, so I'm rewatching the old movie that made me want to be a pilot."

"Sounds cool," Shepard said, her curiosity piqued. "What's the movie?"

Joker scratched the back of his head and looked everywhere but at Shepard before speaking again. "Promise you won't laugh?" He asked.

"Joker," Shepard gave him a look. "I promise it can't be worse than the vids I watched growing up."

Joker sighed. "Okay," he said. "Well… on my anniversary, I always watch Star Wars."

Shepard's face broke into a smile. "That old vid from the twentieth century?"

"You promised you wouldn't laugh!" Joker scowled.

"Calm down, I'm not laughing," Shepard held out a hand. "It's just funny. That's the movie I watch on my enlistment anniversary."

Joker leaned back and scrutinized her. "Seriously?" he said. "Didn't think you were much for hokey old sci fi, Commander."

"Hey," Shepard said. "It's hokey old sci fi that got humans to where they are today. My parents got me to watch that, all the Star Trek vids, 2001: A Space Odyssey, all of them. Just because they're fiction doesn't mean they weren't part of our history."

Joker nodded and leaned back. "Guess so," he said. He sighed again. "I don't know, growing up the kid with the messed up legs, I just loved stories like that. Snarky pilots, space princesses, fighting bad guys. It gave me some hope, kept me up when things were down."

"That's what stories are there for," Shepard said, smiling. "To pull us up when we're feeling down. So," she pressed an icon on her keyboard to turn on the screen. "We can get through at least one Star Wars before it's time to dock on the Citadel. You mind some company?"

Joker gave Shepard a guilty grin. "That sounds like a damned good time Commander," he said. "Hope you don't mind starting with Episode IV."

"You kidding?" she said, her smile widening. "I'd kick your ass if you watched them in the wrong order."

Joker's smile also widened. He flicked a few icons on his screen and he and Shepard leaned back, silent and content, as their terminals went dark and the iconic words swam into view.

_A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away… _

Answer: A love of science fiction

_This is a little drabble, but it covers my reasoning for wanting to play Mass Effect. I love Star Wars so much I have two tattoos related to it, and so the love of good science fiction has kept me going all my life. I admit, I finally got up off my ass to play Mass Effect after all the ending controversy last March, but originally? It was just about the sci fi. I'll never stop loving it as a genre. _


	30. Reunion

**Mass Effect 30 Day Challenge: Day 30 **

**Prompt 30:** What do you love most about Mass Effect?

SPOILERS: Mass Effect 3 Extended Cut

**Reunion**

WARNING: Extreme Headcanon

_London, Earth, 2196 CE, ten years after the destruction of the Reapers_

London was cold, and Kara wrapped her jacket around her as they exited the shuttle that had brought them down to the surface from the _Normandy_. The wind had teeth, and she shielded her face against it with one hand.

"Mommy, mommy!" an insistent voice next to her yelled, tugging on her other hand. "It's cold! I wanna go back ho-oome."

Kara sighed and picked up the little Krogan, holding him close to her chest. "Mordin," she said as he nuzzled into her neck. "You know you're too big to be carried. Look at Edi, she's walking just fine!"

She gestured to another of the three small Krogan that exited the shuttle with her and her husband, seven-year-old Edi holding Garrus's hand and walking with as much poise as a small Krogan was capable of. Garrus gave Kara a smile, gently bumping heads with the third little Krogan, Thane, who he held with his other arm.

"Edi's silly," Mordin complained of his twin sister. "She thinks she's better than me."

"That's because I am!" Edi piped up from the ground, and Mordin wriggled out of his mother's arms and charged through the snow towards his sister.

"I'll get you!"

"No you won't!"

"Daddy!" little Thane yelled from Garrus's arms as his brother and sister rolled around, headbutting each other in the snow. "I wanna play!"

"Later Thane," Garrus said, moving to stand next to Shepard and putting an arm around her. "They're never going to grow out of this are they?"

"Hey," Shepard said. "They got it from your side of the family."

They both laughed, then separated the two squabbling Krogan children and continued their walk through the snow towards the memorial. They could see a small crowd gathering up ahead, and Garrus frowned. "We aren't late are we?" he asked his wife. "Joker said four o'clock, and it's not four o'clock yet."

"We're fine," Kara said, resting a hand on his shoulder. "Guess the others were early too."

"Uncle Wrex!" little Mordin yelled, charging across the snow, almost falling over his own feet. Edi and Thane followed, Kara and Garrus jogging to keep up. Urdnot Wrex stood just in front of the memorial, Bakara at his right, their own small brood of Krogan children wrestling in the snow.

"Look at that," Wrex said, smiling and kneeling down. "Clan Shepard-Vakarian decided to make an appearance!" He gave Mordin a headbutt, causing the boy to go spiraling backwards into the snow and let out a squeaking roar.

"We're not late," Garrus said, giving his old friend a hug. "Kara checked."

"Then I guess we're early," Wrex chuckled. "Look at these little ones, they're huge. What have you been feeding them?"

"Whole Pyjaks," Kara joked, watching as Edi and Thane ran across the snowy ground to say hello to the youngest members of Clan Urdnot and join in their wrestling match. "Yours are just as bad."

"Ours actually eat whole Pyjaks," Bakara said. She gave Kara a hug. "Hello Shepard," she said. "Hope the journey was smooth."

"Always is when you have the best pilot in the galaxy," Kara said, smiling. She tapped her omnitool to contact the Normandy. "Joker, we made it planetside."

"Roger," Joker replied. "Just ping me when you're ready to leave."

"Sure you don't want to come join us?"

"No thanks," Joker's voice was somewhat subdued. "You know me, always happier in the air."

"We'll call when we're ready to go then," Kara replied, a twinge of sadness in her stomach as she signed off.

"Shepard?" Kara turned around to see Liara standing in front of the memorial, smiling and holding a small Asari child in her arms. She walked over and they exchanged hugs. "I was hoping you'd come."

"On the tenth anniversary of the second time I died?" Kara cracked. "Wouldn't miss it for the world!"

A crowd was beginning to form. Liara let Kara and Garrus over to the rest of the group, and Kara thought her arms would go numb from all the hugging. Liara and her husband, Feron, with their little daughter, Benezia. Javik just beyond them, joking and laughing with Vega, who looked to have at least twice as many scars as he'd had the last time Kara had seen him. Tali, there with her husband Kal'Reegar and their daughter Ren, who was playing in the snow with the Krogan children, not wearing an environmental suit. Ashley, standing with her sister and Cortez and a couple other Alliance officials. She was in full Admiral Dress Uniform, and gave Kara a salute before giving her a hug. Traynor stood joking with Daniels and Donnelly while her wife, a pretty Asari girl, held a little blue girl in her arms. Jacob and Miranda stood with Zaeed, exchanging recent war stories, and all three of them exchanged handshakes and hugs with Shepard and Garrus.

"I didn't think this many people would show up," Garrus commented, picking up Thane as he ran over, crying that little Urdnot Shepard had pushed him. "It's okay, that's just what your cousins do," he chided the small Krogan. "Why aren't you over there headbutting him back?"

"It's cold!" Thane complained, burying his face in his father's chest.

"Go on," Garrus set his son down in the snow and gave him a gentle nudge forward. "Go get him!" he encouraged. "Show him true Krogan don't have to live on Tuchanka."

"Raaaaar!" Thane yelled, charging over to the pile of children.

Kara smiled. "And here I thought you were the responsible parent. Usually I'm encouraging the headbutts."

Garrus smiled and took her hand in his. "They haven't seen their cousins in two years," he said. "I figure they're allowed to cut loose a little."

Kara laughed. The clock tower on the other side of the square, built on what had remained of the Houses of Parliament, began to strike the hour, and as if on cue everyone, even the children, fell silent, and all heads turned to Kara, who swallowed nervously.

"Go on," Garrus said, squeezing her hand. "They're waiting for you."

Kara passed through the small crowd, ignoring her complaining right hip, which had never fully healed after her second death, shaking hands and gently touching shoulders as she went. So many old friends, some of whom she hadn't seen since that final push to the Conduit in this exact spot ten years ago, since the day they destroyed the Reapers.

She stood in front of the monument and cleared her throat, looking down at all the expectant faces of her old friends and comrades. She smiled. "It's good to see you all today," she said. "I'm glad you were able to join us on this occasion, so we can remember the day we finally won the war against the Reapers and created a united galaxy.

"We lost many in the fight. Friends, family, entire species wiped out by our enemy. But out of sacrifice, we have found strength. Beauty. Family. And we're able to stand here today because of the brave people who risked everything to survive, to save, to win."

Shepard turned around and looked up at the monument. It was made of a smooth grey stone, erected by the new Council a year after the Reapers had been destroyed. A member of each race that fought to save the galaxy from the Reapers stood in a group, carved in intricate detail, some of them people Shepard had known.

"We have shown the galaxy what it means to be united, as you can see in this memorial." She gestured towards the statues. A batarian soldier. An Asari commando. A Turian sniper. A Krogan warlord. An Elcor, a Hanar, a Quarian without his mask on, even a Rachni worker. A familiar Drell, his sniper rifle and dark eyes a near perfect copy of Thane Krios. A human biotic, carved in the likeness of Kaidan Alenko. Legion, representing all the Geth that were lost in the final destruction. A Salarian wearing a scientist's outfit, holding a vial, and smiling just the way Mordin used to smile. And EDI, off to one side and representative of all the synthetic life the galaxy had lost, the ultimate sacrifice of their victory.

"And we will never forget the lost," she continued. We come here today to honor the fallen, and to celebrate the future we have been given." She raised a hand and rested it gently against the statue of Mordin. "Here's to them," she said. "And to a bright future for the galaxy."

The crowd clapped and cheered, and Kara locked eyes with Garrus, who smiled at her as their three children all bounced up and down beside him, clamoring for attention. She looked across the crowd and saw still more familiar faces from the days gone by. Jack, surrounded by her students. Doctor Chakwas. Kirrahe. The brief Cheshire grin of Kasumi before she slipped back into the shadows. Aria T'Loak, surrounded by a small squad of mercenaries.

They continued to cheer, every one of them grateful, but also somewhat subdued, some of them walking up to the monument to gently rest hands on the statues. Some shed tears.

Kara made her way back to her family and picked up Edi, who headbutted her gently. "Did you know any of them, mommy?" Edi asked, pointing at the grey statues.

"I did," Kara said. "See that woman over there?" she pointed at the tall android statue. "That's EDI, we named you after her. And see over there?" she pointed at the drell statue. "That's Thane, we named your little brother for him. And the Salarian on the right? That's Mordin. Like your twin."

"Wow," Edi's little eyes were round and awed. "You knew all those people?"

Kara Shepard-Vakarian hugged her adopted daughter and stepped back to stand with her husband and sons. She rested her head on Garrus's shoulder, and he put a hand on her shoulder. "We both did Edi," she whispered, kissing the top of the child's head. "It was a long time ago, but we both did."

Answer: The Characters

_This is just a little post-ending Destroy/Sheplives version of what things might be like ten years after the Reapers are destroyed if everyone met up again to catch up. A bit cheesy, but I'd say it's an acceptable circumstance for cheese, and it allows me to reflect on my favourite characters, because that truly is my favourite thing about Mass Effect, the amazing cast of characters who I fall in love with over and over again each time I play. _

_This is the end of the 30 Day Challenge. I hope you guys enjoyed my drabbles. Thanks so much for reading. I promise this will not be my last foray into ME fanfic, so keep your eyes out for Kara Shepard's story in a more linear format, which I'm working on now, in a series called 'Letters To My Mother'. _

_Thanks again for reading! Keelah Se'Lai. _


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